"On Longing"

All work is inspired by "On Longing" by Susan Stewart

"The body is the primary mode of perceiving scale." 

My happy place is where the sun rises and you can always find me at the beach watching it. There is something amazing about getting to see the first rays of light touch the earth. They symbolize a new beginning of a day and a fresh start. I never feel as small as I do when I am on the beach watching the sun rise over the water, when it is at its biggest. 

"Capacity of objects to serve as traces of authentic experience."

My family was created when we built our first house. I have only ever lived in one house and all of my childhood memories were created there. This is a picture of my family's names written in the concrete of the house. Even though we don't live here any longer and my idea of family has changed over the past year, these memories will always be here. They are literally written in stone.

"The souvenir reduces the public, the monumental, and the three dimensional into the miniature, that which can be enveloped by the body."

Traveling is a major aspiration of mine. I have set out on a endeavor of traveling to all fifty states. There is this idea of creating a monument and then having it become a major place for people to visit that interests me. The fact that people flock to these objects to take a picture with them and even take home smaller versions of them because it is "common practice" that makes me curious about how people interact with society. 

"Nostalgia can not be sustained without loss."

My brother has always been my best friend, no matter how much we constantly pick on each other. People have always commented on how close we are as brother and sister because we hardly ever fight and are always hanging out together. He is getting married this year so I'm going to have to give up my best friend, but that also means I gain a sister in the process. We will always have our memories from our childhood but it's his turn to make new memories with the family he's about to start. 

"To have a souvenir of the exotic is to posses both a specimen an a trophy."

Every summer my dad takes my brother and myself out in the Gulf to go scalloping. Once we catch our limit,  he takes us to a sandbar to find sand dollars. It's always a weekend to relax and spend time with family, we don't usually get a lot of free time with our busy schedules. Being able to always look forward to our family trips and the souvenirs we get to bring home makes the trips that much better. I have a collection of shells I bring home every summer because they are reminders of my family in the sand and the sun.