Since I started working on my graduate project and this website life handed me a situation that needed my attention. In June my eighty-one year old father suffered a mild stroke. His physical recovery was nearly complete and he was left with some dizziness. However, the vascular issues that were the underlying cause of the stroke have taken their toll. Dad's short term memory has been seriously impacted by vascular disease.
Through Dad's experience I have realized how fragile memory is and how our personal memories make up a big part of who we are. Memories that allow us to function in the everyday world can be quickly taken away. The memory of how to drive to a neighboring town, a trip driven numerous times over a lifetime, is now gone. The look on my Dad's face made up of confusion and the awareness that he is loosing his memory will haunt me so long as I have the memory of it.
I think the issues of memory and the process of loosing memories will be a topic for a future art series with thread as the medium.
Through Dad's experience I have realized how fragile memory is and how our personal memories make up a big part of who we are. Memories that allow us to function in the everyday world can be quickly taken away. The memory of how to drive to a neighboring town, a trip driven numerous times over a lifetime, is now gone. The look on my Dad's face made up of confusion and the awareness that he is loosing his memory will haunt me so long as I have the memory of it.
I think the issues of memory and the process of loosing memories will be a topic for a future art series with thread as the medium.