Elisse Littrell (BFA 2014)

In Memoriam: My Fading Memory, Etching, watercolor, wax, fabric, 10″x10″

Artist’s Statement

A child’s mind has endless possibility. Creating multiple characters in their minds, children form personas that exist in invented worlds. I am inspired by the lack of time or place tied to these invented characters. The relationships built between children and their creations hearken the nostalgia I feel toward my own childhood and are the impetus for my thesis work: In Memoriam: My Fading Memory. In these portraits I have created friendships, which help to provide a counterbalance to my real world problem of building relationships with other people.

My etchings depict children engaged in play with creatures and animals who are not only their friends, but are also personifications of the children’s own personalities. These etchings are encased by layers and layers of wax that represent the build up of impressions and new life experiences that threaten to cloud my childhood memories, and cause them to fade. I crave to keep these memories alive, but it is an endless battle to do so. A reality I must cope with is that as I age, I grow farther from my youth and childhood adventures: those precious times that I truly want to remember but feel slipping away.