Palimpsest

palimpsest (noun):

     a manuscript or piece of writing material on which the original writing has been effaced to make room for later writing but of which traces remain.
     something reused or altered but still bearing visible traces of its earlier form

Recently my method of working was referred to as palimpsest, which is intriguing as it is history and the art of story telling that appeals to me and finds its way into this body of work.  In the Merriam-Webster dictionary there is a definition of very old documents where the original writing has been replaced with new as well as of something that has changed over time and so it is in the layers of mark-making in my paintings that drives my personal visual stories.  And because literature is as important to me as painting, I find this reference particularly endearing as it seems to connect the two creative aspects of my life.  

When I was a young girl I met archaeologists who were studying artifacts found by the Churchill River and I remembered wanting to do what they did.  We had the opportunity to do a bit of excavation and learned about the various tools and fossils that were found.  The work that I find myself doing these days feels very similar, though I seem to be working backwards, covering much of the initial stages and offering viewers the opportunity to find evidence of what came before.  I really like this word.