Josef's Dream
Following The Traveler’s Map, Josef’s Dream continues to explore the ways in which memory, movement, and connection intertwine. In this series, I investigate the connection between my mother and one of her most cherished pen pals, Josef Span, whose letters and dreams of travel form the emotional backbone of this project. This exchange, which began in 1978, spans not only geographical borders but also emotional realms, as Josef's dreams of travel, and the connection they shared, have continued to resonate in my mother's memories. Through my textile pieces, I seek to re-activate these memories, using fabric, stitching, and archival symbols to construct emotional maps of both the past and the present.
The series comprises three textile pieces: The Globetrotter’s Map, Mémoires d’Angers, and The Globetrotter’s Journey, which examine the themes of physical and emotional movement, memory, and the longing for connection. Through the act of stitching and mapping, I explore the reactivation of memory, transforming fragmented moments of connection into tangible experiences.These works use a variety of archival materials, including handwritten letters, travel stamps, and postmarks, alongside symbolic elements drawn from transit maps, to weave a narrative that reflects not only Josef’s personal dreams through a map of geographical distances, but the emotional terrain of their relationship, a landscape that, though lost in time, is continually re-activated through the act of remembering.
I. Archiving the Past: Personal Letters as Living History
II. Mapping Memory and Movement
