''Kathleen Gerdon Archer's work considers the accumulated effect of place, genetics and history on the individual and the family. This series is a memento mori for her family history and echoes Archer's interest in the geological evidence shaping the coastal New England landscape. She collects stones, seeds, family photographs and personal ephemera from a particular location. These collected elements are arranged in receptacles and frozen, layer by layer, to build conglomerate structures. After removal from the containers, she photographs the icy constructions at intervals, as they disintegrate. It is a constant surprise that these layers of common elements, held together by such a fragile architecture, reveal such an intricate configuration of content.'' |