Rachel Ahava Rosenfeld

Rachel 
Ahava Rosenfeld explores nostalgia, postmemory, and familial history by translating her collection of strangers' family snapshots into paint. Using traditional oil painting techniques her clean geometric lines and shapes translate forgotten memories, abandoned Kodachrome and Polaroid photos, into invented collages. Here subdued palette capture the unique color schemes found in the vintage photographs she works from, tinting her work with the affect of history.

Her paintings invite the viewer to see a story that never existed, reminding the audience of the inherent fallibility of memory. The anonymous nature of the work allows for projection and subconscious personal authorship of the paintings' interpretations. Though the scenes depicted are fictions, they become real when beheld as the viewer and the work seek mutual completion of shared narratives.

For those with gaps in personal and familial histories, the paintings are a snapshot of the mythical potential of earlier times. The collages leave scenes intentionally incomplete, cutting off, overlaying or obscuring what would otherwise be seen as a critical component of a photograph. The people depicted are, literally, abandoned. They allow a blank slate for the viewer to superimpose meaning and potentially fill the gaps of their own histories.

-- Emily Catedrall