Artist Statement - Melissa Powers

Loss, grief, and public vulnerability are the lenses through which I created this installation.

My father’s mistreated diabetes took his legs and his sight. As his health declined, his loss became my loss. A lifelong gardener and landscaper, he could no longer tend to the land. Over the course of his illness, the gardens were overtaken by vines and weeds. This deterioration of the physical landscape became a manifestation of the neglect my father had for his own care. In learning to accept and understand my father’s loss, it was important to start unseeing the world around me. This practice of unseeing taught me that empathy can be learned through curiosity. I began altering vision by intentionally creating unfocused imagery, hand crafted lenses, and distorted surfaces. Through these interferences, I am exploring the perception of loss and grief and their manifestations on sensory and emotional experiences.

The audience is invited to enter and engage with the installation to form their own empathetic relationship to loss and grief.