Commorancy by Charlotte Rose Eshelman

+ 2 images

Charlotte Rose Eshelman

Commorancy

scrapbook (appropriated images, family mythology), family heirlooms, wallpaper (immigration documents, Russian folklore), hand cut rug

8 x 11 x 11 in

Commorancy – a dwelling in place; usual or temporary residence in a place – is the home of stories and storytelling. In this installation, viewers are invited to contemplate how objects and stories change as they migrate through generations. Upon the coffee table is a scrap book constructed with creative non-fiction retellings of my family’s immigration story and photos purchased from antique malls; the stories, passed down without pictures, and the images, found without stories, come together to create a more complete archive. Hung on the walls are doilies and handkerchiefs that were made and used by my ancestors; once considered ephemera, they are now precious artifacts preserved to celebrate the labor that went into creating them. The other two walls are formed by wallpaper patterned with family’s immigration documents shaped into motifs from Russian folk art. The rug is cut into the shape of a sinusoidal map and changes over time as viewers walking through the gallery embed dirt and hay from the adobe floor into its fibers; the viewers become travelers who bring with them pieces of where they have been changing the space as they pass through. Viewers also hear a conversation between my mother and I about our family’s immigration story which plays intermittently and on repeat.

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