Defense Date

2024

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Fine Arts

Department

Photography and Film

First Advisor

Mary Beth Reed

Second Advisor

Dean Moss

Third Advisor

J Molina Garcia

Abstract

Moonshine Babies is a two-screen film made of collage/cut-out stop-motion and live-action. It is a visual poem based on my journals from when I recently started living in the US as an outsider. The experience left me feeling divided between the empty present and memories of the past. suggesting that there are collective memories among a group of interconnected individuals that unite them within a single narrative.

There was a moment when I asked, "If you are your memories, what does it mean to be somewhere you have no memories of and no one has memories of you there?"

Memories are not stagnant. They evolve and transform with us. The more one revisit them, the more they morph, creating a dynamic interplay between past and present. In Moonshine Babies, I delve into the profound impact of memories on our identity, while the present context shapes how we remember our past.

Space, as the vessel that carries our memories, is a pivotal element in my work. The visuals and textures of our living spaces imprint on our memory, shaping our sense of self. Displacement, a disruptive force, can alter this flow of spaces imprinted in memories. Yet, even in the act of remembering a place, the experience remains spatial, albeit more fragmented than reality. To capture the essence of memories within physical spaces, I blend collage and stop-motion in Moonshine Babies.

Fluid but segmental, the images within the Moonshine Babies collages are textures or objects that connect me to people I wanted to keep close to me and belongings I left behind upon leaving my homeland.

Rights

© The Author

Is Part Of

VCU University Archives

Is Part Of

VCU Theses and Dissertations

Date of Submission

5-9-2024

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