Memories Preserved in Paint Jessica Lobb

by Jessica Lobb

How are memories preserved, and how do we remember the moments that have not been captured in photographs? My body of work grapples with this phenomenon by exploring the personal memories of my family and me, and how we preserve them. The memories, portrayed in my paintings, have no photographic or tangible evidence of the moment they happened, either because no photographs were taken or because the photographs from that time have been lost. For instance, three photographs of my mother as a child exist, and only one picture of her father, who passed away when she was seven years old, survives. My body of work thus aims to recreate and preserve these memories through paint. This functions as a way to save those memories from oblivion and to create a tangible portrayal of them that will last and act as a way to spark remembrance when our own memories fade. 

There is a proven psychological link between memories and objects or places; this has also been demonstrated for pictures of those things that are tied to memory. Paintings can act as mnemonic devices for memories, not only because they portray items that link to memories but because of the time spent focusing on portraying them, which requires the artist to sit with the emotions and imagery of remembrance. Paintings can act as a reminder of memories, both in the sense of what is being portrayed but also as itself, being a signifier of the experience of painting.