Memory is 4d
Year Completed: 2026
Platform: Adobe Illustrator
Ideation
Holding onto Memory explores how ordinary moments become meaningful through the memories and emotions we attach to them. I have always been drawn to collecting small objects, photographs, and fragments of everyday life, particularly those that remind me of a specific feeling or atmosphere. This presentation allowed me to investigate how these personal collections could become a form of artistic expression.
At the center of my exploration is a collection of photographs capturing seemingly insignificant moments: streetlights illuminating empty roads, sunlight passing through windows, snowy landscapes, and the fleeting colors of the sky. These images interest me not necessarily because of what they depict, but because of what they evoke. They carry a strange familiarity, simultaneously comforting and distant, as though preserving a moment that can never be fully experienced again. To me, memory is less an accurate record of the past than an emotional reconstruction of it.
I researched artists including Gala Porras-Kim, Richard Drew, Georgij Krutikov, and Chen Shaoxiong, exploring how collections, arrangements, and fragmented imagery can communicate narratives beyond their individual components. Their work inspired me to consider how seemingly disconnected images could collectively recreate the atmosphere of a memory.
From this research, I developed concepts for interactive installations that would allow viewers to physically hold and explore collections of memories. I became particularly interested in the relationship between touch, nostalgia, and attachment: how holding something delicate might mirror our desire to preserve experiences that are inherently fleeting.
Ultimately, Holding onto Memory investigates how art can capture not simply what a moment looked like, but what it felt like to be there.