Lizzy Guaba

My work is about family and memories. While creating these pieces, I thought of people who are important to me. My goal was to recreate a memory in order to reestablish/rebirth that moment. I explored different mediums, compositions, dimensionalities, and color palettes in order to reawaken the memory. My goal is to invoke a feeling of intimacy and serenity. Something I didn’t realize I did was compartmentalizing and being very meticulous with the pieces. This is evident in the way that I did Grandma’s House. I used elements within my Grandma’s house such as dominos in order to create another piece such as Wait!. The purpose of using dominos is to preserve the time I played dominoes with my family in the Dominican Republic. This exactness is the way that I chose to portray the memories, without any uncertainty. However, it plays with the idea of how memories can be obscure in our minds. Also, I divided my work into different recollections that I could distinguish using the senses such as visual or somatosensory. Lastly, this sparked the question of who do memories belong to; the beholder, accomplice or a third party. The artists that influenced my work are Jenny Holzer, Adrian Tomine, Do Ho Suh, and Frank Lloyd Wright.

My decision to assemble the exhibit as a dining room is intentional because I wanted to transform a space and transport the viewer to another dimension within my mind. I strategically placed the pieces where they could speak to each other and have their own platform. I created this installation with wall panels to separate it from the world. Stylistically, I wanted to recreate my grandma’s dining room by adding wallpaper, curtains, a dining table with a cloth, dominos, and cups. The table is the central focus because it pulls the piece together. This would facilitate the viewers’ experience. I wanted to portray how all the pieces weren’t just moments in my life that I wanted to preserve, but moments that were connected since it encompassed my family. I intend the audience to feel warmth and serenity as they enter this homey environment. I want them to think about the importance of these moments to me, but also to reminisce on their own memories. Ultimately, I want them to experience their own sense and desire to preserve memories even though this piece speaks to my experience.