Fifty Shadows of Memory

As an artist working at the intersection of identity, memory, and cultural dialogue, Fifty Shadows of Memory (2024) is an inquiry into historical trauma, collective memory, and the challenge of visualizing the unspeakable. Inspired by Richard Drew’s The Falling Man, this work explores the weight of loss and resilience, reinterpreting a deeply ingrained image from American history. My approach, as someone who did not personally witness the trauma of September 11, emerges from a desire to understand how images shape collective grief and how we can ethically engage with historical events beyond our immediate cultural contexts.

This inkjet print on canvas, displayed in a 24.8 x 48-inch portrait format, consists of vertical strips in shades of black, gray, and brown, creating a blurred, almost pixelated abstraction. Within the composition, a rectangle in the upper right contains fifty silhouetted figures, arranged in mirrored orientations—falling, rising, suspended—evoking both the tragedy of a singular moment and the broader, unresolved tensions between remembrance and erasure. The proportions correspond to the American flag, drawing from Jasper Johns’ Flag and David Hammons’ African American Flag, exploring national identity through a visual language of fragmentation.

2024-25