Christopher Polish

“Mamia”

For the exhibition, I wanted to focus on the relationship I had with my grandmother, and how her passing affected me. Each individual piece has a specific correlation to how my grandmother and I were close, meaning that each artwork has a significant memory I shared with her. Even though there is no chronological order, all of the artworks connect with each other, creating a deeper meaning altogether.

The bond with my grandmother grew as I had to take care of her, due to her having two broken vertebrates, a tumor, and pneumonia. I would aid her by getting her to bed every night, cooking her food, changing her clothes and diapers, and also helping her go to the bathroom, among other things. This all went on for a span of two years and it became my motivation for the exhibition, since I felt I could express the memories I had with her as well as dedicate it to her. 

My first piece “Falling Boy”, aims to depict how everything appeared to me after her passing. All the things in my life were thrown out of proportion, which is  represented by the cup of tea and the small boy. The cup of tea symbolizes my relationship with her because I would constantly be making her tea, as it was one of the things she would always drink before she went to sleep. The boy represents how everything was out of proportion, as he is falling into the cup, which is much larger than him in the painting. My second piece is called “Puzzled” and it has a double meaning. Firstly, it shows how I used to make puzzles with my grandmother in our free time, and it was one of the activities that I enjoyed doing with her. The other meaning is that it shows how her passing left missing pieces in my day to day life, which is represented in my use of the missing pieces of the puzzle. For my third artwork “Tore Through”, I changed the pace a little and showed an apple and a worm, in which the worm is tearing the apple through. This displays the void I felt after she passed away. I used the apple since it was one of her favorite fruits. My fourth artwork is the “Skeletal Rose” which displays one of her favorite flowers, and her vertebrae. Additionally, I also added the roots of the flower, which can also be interpreted as the nerves running through her body. 

My fifth artwork is called “Exposed” as it exposes a pear that is cut open and has a pair of lungs and a diaphragm. The pear represents one of the snacks I would give her, the young boy symbolizes how I would help her get on her bed, and the lungs show how she had pneumonia. The sixth artwork, “Endless” is a representation of how when one passes away, the memories you shared with her, are going to be with her forever. I used a casket to represent her passing, and countless stairs leading to a door to represent the memories she took with her when she passed away. My seventh artwork, “Unseen but Felt” is a representation of how even though she is not physically with me, her presence is with me. To demonstrate this, I use two people looking at a mirror, a man and a woman. However, the woman is not seen in the reflection, while the man is. This is a representation of how I can feel her presence accompanying me, but I cannot see her. Lastly, my eighth artwork is a portrait of my grandmother surrounded by different flowers. It is meant to show the audience an image of who my grandmother was, and it is how I am able to directly dedicate the exhibition to her. My exhibition is solely made to represent the connection between me and my grandmother.