For this project, I opened up my graduate studio at Mills College, and offered to make free cups of coffee or tea – for friends and strangers alike. I asked that in exchange they tell me about a memory they had from “here.” After they finished their story, each participant then choose a homemade color swatch to represent the feeling of that memory. I froze a piece of ice for each person embedded with their color and powdered charcoal. I threw a “Memory Melt” party, open to the public, where everyone was able to gather in my studio together to celebrate the cathartic release of their memories. As guests toasted with edible colorful ice cubes, they watched their ice pieces melt together on paper to make collective memory maps, which were then layered together in the resulting triptych.
