Daisy Patton

Lives and works in Western Massachusetts

Artist statement

Who do we remember and why? These questions reveal what we value and the ways memory in all its forms is not neutral, encompassing family relationships, identities, and collective memorialization. In "Forgetting is so long," I collect abandoned family photographs, enlarge them to life-size, and paint over them to re-enliven and transfigure the people into our present moment. Through the intertwined histories of painting and photography, I paint to extend the lives and memories of these individuals to create a living archive of memory. These large-scale works evoke the ornate intricacies of Persian miniature, narrative richness within tapestries, and the sacred intimacy of altars. Adorned with rewilded botanic patterning, these paintings fracture time and space—here, the flowers are always blooming and giving life to the people in each image, melding us to the natural world. The paintings invite connections between the painted subjects and viewers: they gaze at us as we gaze back at them, recognizing our shared humanity despite time separating us. This series began during a period of estrangement from my mother, the parent that raised me, over my search for the parent I never met, my Iranian father. From an early age, I longed for photographs of him, objects I lacked, while trying to locate myself in a diaspora I did not yet know I belonged to. By painting over the images of unknown people, I repair the erasures in my own story and tend to the disremembered lives of others....

Artwork