like sands through the hourglass

Like Sands Through the Hourglass is a work in progress that explores the power of heirlooms to reflect personal histories, relationships, and the process of healing. My mother’s family immigrated to the United States in 1956 during the Hungarian revolution. The process of assimilation has left many things unpassed between generations. In this project, I tell the stories that have been passed to me and the ones I have discovered by mending, revising, and recreating objects inherited from family members. Clothes unravel, photos fade, and furniture falls out of fashion. Likewise, memory can fray with the loss of a single person. Trust and safety erode as the social contract is breached. Over time, the value placed on experiences, perspectives, and objects diminishes. This project confronts these broken bonds of trust within my family and in a society that has repeatedly betrayed the trust of women.