Letters from Utopia

The letter is a relic from the pre-digital age. It connects people in distant places. It is thus an expression of the physical distance and the spiritual closeness between people. It is a metaphorical bridge between now and then, between here and there. “Utopia” is a constructed place that feeds on memory. It never existed, yet it has an impact on the now, which is consumed with longing for it.

In this work I have collaged historical photographs and my own photographs, some of which I have alienated, with old letters. Cutting them up and putting them back together in a collage is like the mental process of remembering. The stitching together is hurting and healing at the same time, like the stitching of a wound.