In July 2023, I did a month-long artist residency at the Museum of Loss and Renewal in Collemachia, Italy. The Museum is a platform for creation and communal exchange, defying conventional notions that museums are merely repositories for artifacts.

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Curious about the integration of artistry, collaborative learning, and scholarly inquiry, I found resonance with the Museum’s ethos. My residency also coincided with the inception of my doctoral proposal, which focused on a dive into my own Italian ancestry and catalyzed a pilgrimage to my motherland. While there, I traced the footsteps of my ancestors across Italy, which became a complex tapestry of personal history that served as both muse and laboratory for my inquiry. I sketched amidst the ancient ruins of Pompeii, contemplated the interplay between tangible and imagined spaces, and developed insights into the nuances of historical interpretation, art, and self-reflection.  

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The artwork shown here is a series of expressive sculptural vessels and objects, and paintings created during and immediately after attending the residency. At its core, it is rooted in the resilience and healing of human relationships and represents an exchange between the external milieu, the artistic artifacts, and my journey. In navigating the terrain of my ancestral homeland, I was able to weave past narratives with present realities. In essence, this work epitomizes an odyssey of self-discovery and cultural reclamation, underscoring the transcendent power of artistic expression in navigating the labyrinth of human experience.