Souvenir

  Far more than a tiny replica of a famous landmark, a souvenir may be any part of our past that maintains a presence in our present. Almost anything can become ‘a something’ of great significance through its associations.  When considering objects that I have felt compelled to collect, I notice that most are valueless, and yet invaluable for the memory and meaning associated with them. We identify what we wish to preserve through difference and distance, separating the ordinary from the special. We treasure a remainder as a reminder.

 

However, what of the remainders that remind of something not so special: Raised by parents of the ‘waste - not – want - not’ generation, I was encouraged from an early age to re-use and recycle.  Of course, it is unrealistic to expect only the most positive aspects of our past to prevail, and many objects endure whether we want them to or not. As we go about our day, many of our movements around our homes can be retraced by the items we discard. They become artefacts of our actions.

 

As our attitudes towards plastics and packaging begin to change, the supermarket plastic bag has become the focus in the war on waste. I have been attempting a transformation of these mundane objects using only the most domestic processes in an attempt to generate worth from the worthless, aiming to provoke a re-assessment of their value and beauty. In coaxing ornament from the ordinary, I have created wearable souvenirs of modern everyday life.

 

@kristinakitch7