Remember to live (memento vivere) when reminded of death (memento mori)! These Latin phrases name a long tradition of symbolism in art. I’ve experimented with them in the ways they have been historically approached — skulls, flowers, and other familiar emblems — as well as in their intersections and the potential for developing them into series.

While first exploring this tradition in typical contexts like the still life, I began to stretch past the more overt symbols to include narratives such as via toys of childhood and family objects staged as a place on which to launch art or learn from prior artists and then past that toward more surreal evocations, crossing over into the liminal Floating and Portals theme.

In these first 3 years, I made some 10 pieces of art that worked in more literal mementos: sticky notes.