Alicja Dobrucka
I see my work here as becoming a type of modern-day funeral photography. This genre was previously an intrinsic part of Western culture, continuing until the mid-eighties in America, though now in complete decline. Its historic importance as part of the funeral rite not only helped mourners remember the dead but also to remember that they are dead. Darien Leader writes ‘This process of surveying and reshuffling thoughts and images will eventually exhaust itself, and the mourner will choose life over death.’
I LIKE YOU, I LIKE YOU A LOT
My 15-year-old brother tragically drowned in 2008. In the immediate aftermath of the tragedy I attest to the materiality of death, engaging in private moments that the camera has candidly recorded. Over time, I reflect upon the changes in me, what I remember, what I miss and what remains. I am immersed in this push and pull between a rawness of emotion and a contemplation of the photographs, their traces revealing impermanence. They are a form of physical evidence, eventually becoming fragmented memory. ‘We photograph things in order to drive them out of our minds. My stories are a way of shutting my eyes.’ - Franz Kafka
UKYA PROJECTS:
National Biennale: Derby 2010
