Poem to My Mother, 3-Channel video projection, 9.45, 2006
Poem to My Mother is both a self-portrait and a portrait of my mother. The piece formally engages in a dialogue between poetry and video through the use of appropriated and original footage and language. "Poem to the Reader" by Sharon Olds is the catalyst for the video. Two voices, my own and poet Terri Witek, affirm a generational lineage where the poet is the mother and the daughter is an artist. By claiming the power of the matriarch from Olds's poem, the piece is an exploration of my own matriarchal heritage.