I just shipped off the book I made for ArtSpace New Haven’s upcoming exhibit, Connecticut (Un)Bound. Here is their Press Release:

https://artspacenh.files.wordpress.com/2014/09/ct-unbound-press-release-september-2014-final.pdf

This book for Connecticut (Un) Bound is a compilation of personal reflections on what the state has given me. I was born in Bridgeport while my father was operating his cabinet making shop there. Always trying to follow greener pastures, we moved to several states over the years, making it hard for my siblings and I to feel as if we belonged anywhere or even to be able to say where we were “from.” When I look back at where my family started, I am grateful for the opportunities my parents had while living in Connecticut. The Polish community gave my mother’s family a sense of belonging when they first arrived in this country. Harding High School gave my mother the foundation for learning. Hartford Seminary honed my father’s path of constant learning. While I may not have the same sense of community my mother experienced growing up in Bridgeport, with all that was handed to me in life, I believe I can say today, I am from Connecticut.

About the book:

Welcome to 255 Sheridan Street, Bridgeport, Connecticut. This is where it all started. My mother’s family moved into this building in the early twentieth century shortly after they immigrated to this country. The Polish community gave my mother’s family that sense of belonging humans seek. Her extended family shared the three apartments. The books found within 255 Sheridan Street are abstractions of moments in time from my family’s personal experience in Connecticut in the twentieth century

There is the Warren G Harding High School Scrapbook with snippets of high school life after World War II. The Flipbook is of my favorite part of the journey we would take to visit my grandparents—Heroes Tunnel. The twentieth century made the dissolution of family and community a part of modern existence. Automobiles enabled families to live great distances apart. In my youth we spent a lot of time traveling to see relatives. Time spent with them was short yet the intensity of the moments made the memories more vivid. The Zoetrope embodies the impatience of youth forced to sit in a moving vehicle for seemingly infinite lengths of time. The Pop-out book She Sews honors my mother who sewed all her own clothes, those for her children and even for their dolls.