The Grandmother Project

"The Grandmother Project" draws from intergenerational memory and storytelling, referencing passed down narratives from the artist's grandmother about their family's immigration to Canada 120 years ago. Though told with certainty, these stories were not firsthand accounts and became increasingly fixed with each generation. When the artist travelled to his grandmother's birthplace, it revealed significant gaps between inherited memory and documented history, highlighting how personal and collective narratives are shaped, distorted and mythologized over time. Through research, the artist also uncovered an untold story: a family fleeing their homeland for a promised land that offered the hope of survival and renewal. Central to these narratives is the ship that carried the artist's grandmother's family to Canada. The ship, typically associated with hope and new beginnings, functions as metaphor; but reimagined here as a fractured vessel, made of ephemeral materials, evoking unrealized dreams.