The Family Project Installation

Jodi Sharp

2013

Mixed Media

SUB Gallery, April 14-20, 2013

In a world that is currently so transient, where local community is no longer a forefront priority for many people, we suddenly find a societal space where the definition of what family is changes. The Family Project is a discussion around what a person does when they no longer have the traditional biological family system they were born into. In the space where someone no longer has a connection to the traditional idea of family, they are forced to make their own connections and community of no blood relation.

In this project the artist creates her own idea of family and what it means to be connected. This project consists of two parts, a biological exchange with people who have made a commitment to each other, and a self created family crest.

The first part of the project is a stain glass box filled with biological samples. Because family is generally biological, the artist asked people who she considers to be family to donate a biological sample of their choice as a symbol of the capacity we have to choose each other. Each one of these samples goes on a microscope slide, and is placed inside the box in the succession they are donated.

Stain glass was chosen to symbolize the sacredness of family and the act of creating community. At the same time, the use of glass gives the piece a tentativeness. Glass is easily broken and is a reminder that relationships are special, and also fragile. They have to be cared for, and also let go of when they sometimes break.  

The biological sample of the artist is in the centre of the crest on the top of the box, and is seen as you look down through the box onto the samples inside. As you look down through the glass slides, all of the biology begins to merge, signifying unity, while at the same time DNA is one of the most individual things possible. 

The second part of the project is a family crest that was created by the artist.

Heraldry has been used throughout the history of mankind to testify belonging with a family group, and is generally passed down from father to children. In this piece the artist takes her own right to create her own new crest, which is etched into the glass and tattooed onto the artist's own back.

The artist then invites others in her community to adopt the same crest, or to alter it in any way they so desire. These crests are then embroidered on clothing that those in her community choose to wear as a symbol of unity, but also of choice. 

Through the symbolic exchange of literal biology, and the adoption and re-creation of traditional symbols, this piece discusses the choices surrounding what it means to be family, and what happens when we begin to chose our own.

For in process go here, here, here and here.