The work consists of several pieces; a memory quilt, a self-portrait collage and an exercise in photography with my parents. The title is taken from an ancient Zen koan „What did my face look like before my parents were born?” which even though it poses a question without a definitive answer, stands as a call for identity exploration.
A memory quilt is a traditional, handmade piece that is often made as memorabilia of family history on the occasion of significant life changes. After moving out of my family home, I started sewing the quilt, cutting and joining together my own pieces of clothing and other textiles that were meaningful while growing up. The photographs sewn into the quilt and over the clothes depict four generations of my family, while the textiles used in the work were pieces of my bed sheets and clothes that I’ve worn from childhood to adulthood.
The collage is a self-portrait made using cut-out scanned ID photographs of my parents and grandparents.
The third part of the work is an exercise in photography with my parents, whom I’ve asked to shoot a roll of film describing me and our relationship through images.
Part of the work was made during PARALLEL – European Photo Based Platform.
2018-2022
