This series of collages entitled Whaler’s Valentines are inspired by the sailor's valentines often found in whaling towns in New England. I have made valentines from my images of the arctic landscape and seascape, where whalers of the 18th and 19th century would have spent much of their lives. Rather than the showy seashells of Bermuda, there is ice and rock and silence and the stunning, subtle colors of the high north. Each piece is named using a phrase found written into an original sailor’s valentine: i think of thee when i gaze at the sea; forget me not when far away; ever thine; love came here and never left.
love came here and never left is about the experiences of lovers separated by the arctic -- including those of whalers, explorers, and my own self. I had no ability to communicate with my partner for the duration of my time living aboard a sailing vessel in the high arctic in 2015 -- an incredible amount of disconnectivity in the 21st century. The project is made of two groups of work: a group of collages called Whaler’s Valentines and a multichannel video piece, love came here and never left (this the closest i’ll come to touching you the way I want). The work lives in the liminal space between personal experience, historical narratives, and storytelling, and is, fundamentally, a musing on romantic love and longing.
