Passed/Past
Current – 2023
Reads:
"Come lets live in the warmth of
God's love." (I corn : 13) [sic]
I'M SPECIAL - GOD MAKES THINGS RIGHT!
On Nov 14, 2022, an unannounced Minnesota blizzard almost prevented me from getting to my surgery that morning. In the precarious hour drive on rural roads, a bird flew up out of a snow drift and into my carʼs grill. As my mother would call it, that was a sign.
.
The day before, my sister finally announced that she was pregnant. My mother was given a “Plot Twist” onesie as a surprise. To help relieve caretaker duties, I was going to take a semester leave and come down to San Antonio to take care of my disabled mom.
.
While a needle was slowly inserted into my lower spine, my mother passed away. In that moment of intense pain, I saw everything and nothing. I knew that Iʼll never see her green eyes again. We were connected in the beginning and in the end.
.
Passed/Past explores memory and mourning through photographs, objects and looped audio and video. In the aftermath of sorting a past life, there is a poetic journey in the finding of hidden notes and collections, the lingering smells still on the pages, the secret stash of
candy in a purse, and the need to hold onto random objects in the search for purpose and meaning in the absurdity of life.
.
Sheila Marie Dunn Stansbury
September 26, 1958 – November 14, 2022
Hand Holder
Or, I Always Ran Away
(detail)
Plaster, funeral wreath, hand holder, medical bracelet
2023
Hand Holder
Or, I Always Ran Away
Plaster, funeral wreath, hand holder, medical bracelet
2023
Blink
Or, She Couldn’t Really See Me
(1 of 2)
Archival pigment print
2024
Blink
Or, She Couldn’t Really See Me
(2 of 2)
Archival pigment print
2023
In Place (series)
#1
Archival pigment prints
2023
Tubes
Or, Extending the Inevitable
(1 of 2)
Archival pigment print
2023
Tubes
Or, Extending the Inevitable
(2 of 2)
Archival pigment print
2023
Slices
Or, I See Myself in Her
Video projection
Endless loop
2023
Flux/Fat
Or, All That We Are
Crisco, talc, scale
2023
Bruises
Or, We Share the Same Veins
(1 of 2)
Archival pigment print
2023
Bruises
Or, We Share the Same Veins
(2 of 2)
Archival pigment print
2023
In Place (series)
#2
Archival pigment print
2023
Muscle
Or, Where MRSA Ate Away Her Bones
(1 of 2)
Archival pigment print
2024
Muscle
Or, Where MRSA Ate Away Her Bones
(2 of 2)
Archival pigment print
2024
In Place (series)
#3
Archival pigment prints
2023
Wound Care
Or, I Should Have Been a Nurse
(1 of 2)
Archival pigment print
2024
Wound Care
Or, I Should Have Been a Nurse
(1 of 2)
Archival pigment print
2024
In Place (series)
#4
Archival pigment prints
2023
Shed
Or, She Was Turning to Ash in Front of Me
(1 of 2)
Archival pigment print
2024
Shed
Or, She Was Turning to Ash in Front of Me
(2 of 2)
Archival pigment print
2024
Detail photo of the 2023 Postcard Series
Locusts
Or, Waiting to Emerge
Archival pigment print
2023
Detail photo of the 2023 Postcard Series
Melt
Or, Savoring Every Flower
Archival pigment print
2023