Artist Statement
When I moved to Florida it was winter. Friends up north asked me what it was like to spend Christmas surrounded by palm trees, without snow – did it feel festive?
In December I began to photograph holiday decorations. They were plentiful, even the most modest homes adorned with icicle lights and plastic snowmen. In January I returned to the same locations to find the displays had vanished, leaving a void where they once stood.
I created these diptychs, two photographs of the same scene. The December images (on the left) show holiday ornaments on doors, on lawns, on trees. The January images (on the right) highlight the empty spaces that the ornaments once filled.
Despite the presence of decorations, the December images do not necessarily convey a more cheerful spirit. In fact, the contrast between the two scenes can be subtle. I am interested in the sense of memory that the two photographs together create, and how objects intended to be festive or meaningful one day can be reduced to stuff the next, returned to dusty boxes in the garage or casually discarded.