Field Notes
Memory is not evenly distributed.
Some things disappear.
Some things refuse to.
I keep returning to what remains.
Not because it is permanent,
but because it persists.
Color became a way of measuring presence.
Absence became a material too.
My grandmother could no longer remember many everyday things,
yet music carried entire worlds back to her.
That contradiction stayed with me.
I wasn't interested in illustrating Alzheimer's.
I wanted to build something around the mystery of memory—
how it fades,
how it returns,
how certain experiences seem to root themselves beyond explanation.
Looking back,
this was one of the first times I understood sculpture as a way of holding attention for someone else.
Vitale
Color pencils, silicone, EPS foam
22 × 16 × 25 in
2017
Vitale was created for The Brain Project, an international public art initiative organized by Baycrest Foundation in Toronto to support brain health research. Artists, designers, and public figures were invited to transform life-sized brain sculptures, which were later exhibited throughout the city and auctioned to raise funds for Alzheimer's research.
Covering the sculpture with more than 500 colored pencils cut to different lengths, I created a shifting surface of color and absence inspired by my grandmother's experience with Alzheimer's disease. Areas of vibrant color represent memories that remained vivid throughout her life, while exposed white areas speak to the memories that slowly disappeared.
The sculpture was acquired by Baycrest Foundation following the exhibition, where it also received the People's Choice Award.
