On April 13, 2017 my definition of home changed forever. My brother passed away unexpectedly due to a previously undiagnosed heart condition. His passing from this life into what's next challenged me. It made me think about the life on this side of the grave, and long for what it could be on the other side. The grave became a passage that we will all walk through. It is the door.
I created a digital illustration of an aerial view of a graveside. I chose this perspective, that it might represent a doorway seen from a more common vantage point. The gravestone above acts as secondary marker that emphasizes this as a grave.
I shot the series of triptychs with the Deardorff 8x10 camera with Type 55 peel-apart film (expired).
The book format is the final representation of this art work. We scanned the series of images and created an leporello endless book format that is bound with a simple tipped-in slipcover. Depending on how the viewer engages the book whether starting at the The door - an exit, or The door - an entrance one views the ariel view of the grave as an open door or closed, and views the triptychs arranged in order of the series breaking down or coming back together. The book is hope filled or hopeless, depending on where the viewer enters in.
