WHAT REMAINS

AMY PLEASANT

OPENING: WEDNESDAY, NOV. 4, 5:30 - 7:30 P.M.

ON VIEW: NOV. 5 - NOV. 21

-

Amy Pleasant’s latest exhibition, WHAT REMAINS, builds on her first series, FAMILY ALBUM, which began as a homage to the women of her family found in inherited family albums. Her curiosity soon widened beyond her own family as she sought to better understand their generation's world - their compromises, secrets, and heartaches.

Amy began a quest for particular vintage photographs at local flea markets in her Northeast Ohio hometown, searching for unscripted moments: a look, a gesture, a stance that might offer a glimpse of what’s true. Her paintings are rooted in these found photographs, serving as a final attempt to animate a woman, a moment, or a hidden story - and to consider what remains.

WHAT REMAINS

Memory 

and the lingering aftermath 

of a life lived;  

the remnant 

of the treasured family photo, 

a story oft repeated, 

an idealized memory.   

As time passes,

the story is invariably 

reframed and retold.

The person becomes the story, 

that which is passed on

from generation to generation.  

We hold onto 

the visual artifacts

left behind,  

We see ourselves 

in the crook of a smile, 

gesture of a hand, 

compare our children's first photograph, 

to those whom have come before.   

We look carefully to see 

what has been handed down 

and what is ours to keep.