Mother Pearl

Mother Pearl is an exploration of a connection I feel to a woman who I have never known. While she and I have never met face to face, we are far from strangers. We are connected through lineage and bloodline; she is a part of who I am. She is beautiful, full of grace, and has a smile that lights up a room. Our relationship is unique, as I can engage with her only through photographs, momentos, and dreams. Her life's story is a mystery to me, as I have little to no information to pull from. I am left with mere imaginations of this woman, who she is, and her impact on my life. This woman is my grandmother, Margaret Dowd... Mother Pearl.​

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This body of work is a projection of images recording my innermost desires of what my relationship would have been like with my deceased grandmother, had we been afforded the chance to meet. In this series I have taken a variety of constructivist approaches to photography by staging memories I long to have created with her. Found photographs, personal objects belonging to my grandmother, and pearls are used to emphasize the closeness of her presence felt around and within me, as well as handwritten letters addressed to her, outpouring my emotions as I travel on this journey to know her deeper.​