THRESHOLD
Statement of Intent
The photographic project Threshold was inspired by and created in the south-eastern Romanian region of Dobrogea, where I grew up.
Dobrogea is a place characterized by hills, desert, and wind, with the most humidity coming in from the Black Sea and the Danube, which sharply contrasts the rest of the
dry, barren land. Dobrogea boasts a rich history that spans over 2500 years. Turks, Tatars, Greeks, Armenians, Bulgarians, Romanians, and Jews intermingle in its history.
Among the hills of Dobrogea lie the villages Threshold was born in Lespezi, Dobromir, Valeni, and Faurei, where I focused most of my work. Threshold evolved as a project
as much as Dobrogea did throughout its history.
I explore the villages of Dobrogea by foregrounding my vivid, yet abstract memories related to childhood. The polaroid photos best served my purpose to capture the idea
of personal memories associated with this space that represent an immediate imprint of reality with a power of a medium for nostalgia and, also, as a medium with
subversive effect through the aesthetics of visual romanticism.
When I immortalize quotidian scenes with Polaroids, it’s as if my childhood memories manifest themselves before my eyes – a snapshot of the present, but with a faded
nostalgic quality. The details of time and place are not in the pictures but supplied from elsewhere – from a store of childhood memories that might be anybody’s. The
polaroid film’s imperfect and unpredictable qualities are best suited to unveiling them.
The Polaroids can showcase the sense of known I feel when I go to Dobrogea.
My intent as an artist is to awaken in my audience the childhood memory that lies within all of us even if it comes in a different shape.
The photography is used more as an artistic and metaphorical tool rather than an instrument of documentary evidence. I attempted an image transfer on an organic cotton fabric to emphasize the dream-like Polaroids. This was both a sustainable choice and a perfect way to obtain the wanted nostalgia and fade of concrete memories in time effect. Creating a handmade photo book in the shape of a journal was also a sustainable choice meant to strengthen the idea of personal and intimate memories.
The images transferred on canvas respect the exact size and shape of the polaroid and have handmade fringes, alluding to them falling apart, just like memories. Our
memories are knitted together in our minds in a very similar way to how the fabrics are knitted from a lot of smaller fibers.
The current Polaroid approach therefore completes Threshold in a similar way to how time erodes memories – they dissipate from sharp portrayals to vague recollections
Iris Maria Tusa 