Faculty of Art

Photography

Ana Luisa Bernárdez Notz

Hands that gather and forget

Created in collaboration with Sebastián Rodríguez y Vasti during the 2020 Xpace Summer Residency for OCAD U graduates, with the generous support of Smokestack Studio. Exhibited at Xpace Cultural Centre from Sept 8th - Oct 2nd.

“Hands that gather and forget takes a look at the archive of photographs we’ve created during our yearly visits to Venezuela since we left. When we go home, documenting becomes almost compulsory— a way to deal with our, and our loved ones’ uncertain future. As this archive intermittently grows, it also starts to become inaccessible. Some images may never be seen again, or we may never remember them, but there is a sort of faith and comfort in that they exist. Knowing this, our commitment to taking these images comes with a burden. The motives of this search and desire converge and seem clear, but so does their dual condition of unfinishable and inevitable. It’s this ambiguity what heavies the task of gathering.”