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<\/a>Orloff<\/p><\/div>Orloff said the $5,000 grant will be used to expand her \u201cElusive Memory\u201d series and to exhibit it nationally. <\/p>\n
The work was inspired by an experience she had following the death of her father in 2007 when she was preparing a eulogy for his funeral. While drawing upon specific memories, she realized all of them were directly connected to photographs, causing her to wonder if she remembered the moments, or if the pictures had created false memories. <\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted to make work about this phenomenon, but the project didn\u2019t actually take form until many years later,\u201d Orloff said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAbout five years ago, I inherited thousands of neglected prints and slides that had been in my father\u2019s basement, where they were damaged by flooding. I started photographing them in the studio, not knowing what I would do with the images, but hoping to salvage some of the family pictures for posterity,\u201d she said. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t until I saw them enlarged on a computer screen that I recognized their poignancy and greater relevance: I saw metaphors for loss and the fragmentary, ephemeral nature of memory.\u201d<\/p>\n
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<\/a>\u201cMy Favorite Dress\u201d from \u201cElusive Memory,\u201d color photograph on rag paper, by Deborah Orloff<\/p><\/div>Her new work utilizes the severely damaged photos.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2018Elusive Memory\u2019 explores the significance of vernacular photographs as aesthetic objects and cultural artifacts. The resulting large-scale photographs make commonplace objects monumental and emphasize their unique details,\u201d Orloff said.<\/p>\n
The exhibition is on display at Workspace Gallery in Lincoln, Neb. Upcoming exhibitions include Youngstown State University\u2019s Solomon Gallery, Vincennes University\u2019s Shircliff Gallery in Indiana, and Anna Maria College\u2019s Art Center Gallery in Massachusetts. <\/p>\n
In addition, Orloff\u2019s project was featured recently online at \u201cAint \u2014 Bad,\u201d<\/a> an independent publisher of new photographic art.<\/p>\n