Joana Stillwell

Lives and works in Washington, D.C., USA

Artist statement

I investigate the growing collapse between memories, lived environments, and digital interfaces. Photographs, videos, and material fragments are artifacts of their time. These artifacts continually inform and reconstruct our memories as we keep, revisit, and move through our lives with them. The temporary and fleeting nature of my work speaks to that constant reforming happening in and around us. I refine selected elements into their essential forms to piece them together and create different wholes. I am interested in impermanence and the lifecycle of the archive. The activity of arranging and describing an archive is one of power. It is also a space for questioning, epiphany, and wonder. I work in this conceptual framework using installation, video, text, and images. Migration and a legacy of forgotten and lost objects, documents, and mementos informs my practice. As an artist and archivist, I consider the roles of memory and perception, asking what stories get to be told, who gets to tell those stories, and what ultimately gets preserved.

Artwork