"Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors" is a project where I delve into my personal history through the archives left by my father. His early death left me with many unanswered questions and a sense of emptiness that I seek to fill through my art. Working with his few photos and texts is an attempt to reconstruct fragmented memories, as if by replicating and multiplying these recollections, I could come closer to the truth of his life and his absence.
In these works, the empty landscapes reflect the permanence of the world despite the disappearance of people. The black spots that appear in these landscapes, reminiscent of shadows on a cinema screen, represent both elusive memories and the ghostly presence of those who are no longer here. This concept of shadows led me to the title, inspired by the Ukrainian film "Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors" by Sergei Parajanov, a work that also explores memory and identity through the lens of folklore and tradition.
For me, this project is not just an artistic exploration but an intimate dialogue with my past, an attempt to give shape to what remains in the shadows and to keep alive the memory of those who have passed.
In these works, the empty landscapes reflect the permanence of the world despite the disappearance of people. The black spots that appear in these landscapes, reminiscent of shadows on a cinema screen, represent both elusive memories and the ghostly presence of those who are no longer here. This concept of shadows led me to the title, inspired by the Ukrainian film "Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors" by Sergei Parajanov, a work that also explores memory and identity through the lens of folklore and tradition.
For me, this project is not just an artistic exploration but an intimate dialogue with my past, an attempt to give shape to what remains in the shadows and to keep alive the memory of those who have passed.
