Lauren C. Steinert
Traces
I believe objects hold memory more distinctly than people do. Spending immersive time with different objects around my home, studio, and the communal spaces I occupy, I attempt to visually translate the stories people have left behind by laboriously tracing the overlapping, historic marks built up on the surface of work tables, stools, and tools.
By recording these impressions, I am able to document the space’s history. Excavation of nicks, scratches, gouges, and stains reveals events and sequences that have been overlooked and forgotten, evoking the memory of the hundreds of people who have used these surfaces. Through tracing, I uncover the presence others have left behind and consider the accrued time and moments these objects have witnessed.
Traces is a combination of printmaking, glass, and light projection which present the marks and history from the communal printmaking lab at the University of Arizona. The literal, translated and reflected marks are presented in tandem to question notions of what is ephemeral or everlasting.
