RECLAIMING THE SOUVENIR — JESS TODD STUDIO

RECLAIMING THE SOUVENIR (2007-2010)

Whether it's a photograph, a postcard, a map, or a tabletop plastic replica, when we return home with our collection, did we actually experience the place we visited, or only stop there long enough to hoard some mementos? A semester abroad in Barcelona, Spain, in 2007 provoked investigation into notions of travel and tourism as I explored Western Europe. The resulting work approaches conflicts of home and away, craft and mass production, and individualism and collectivism. Returning a year later to live outside Barcelona, the newer work expresses the dissonance that comes with living in a foreign country.

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If Found. Return To. U.S.A., sterling silver rings, postcards, digital prints, 2007 — *If Found. Return To. U.S.A.,* sterling silver rings, postcards, digital prints, 2007

Modern Woman, T-shirt transfers on cotton, turf, sterling silver, copper, 2½" x 3" x ¾", 2008 — *Modern Woman,* T-shirt transfers on cotton, turf, sterling silver, copper, 2½" x 3" x ¾", 2008

Tourist's Triptych, copper, resin, paint, 3" x 2" x ¾", 2010 — *Tourist's Triptych,* copper, resin, paint, 3" x 2" x ¾", 2010

Valencia in Fiber, cotton, buttons, 12" x 12" each, 2008 — *Valencia in Fiber,* cotton, buttons, 12" x 12" each, 2008

Hallways, cotton, ribbon, buttons, embroidery hoops, 8" x 8" each, 2008 — *Hallways,* cotton, ribbon, buttons, embroidery hoops, 8" x 8" each, 2008

Pinned, resin, map pins, map of Spain, velvet, cork, wood, brass, copper 3½" x 3½" x ½", 2010 — *Pinned,* resin, map pins, map of Spain, velvet, cork, wood, brass, copper 3½" x 3½" x ½", 2010

Tourist Go Home, surface design on cotton, 24" x 36", 2010 — *Tourist Go Home,* surface design on cotton, 24" x 36", 2010

TRACES

LITTLE BOXES

SUBURBAN GROWTH SERIES

INVESTIGATIONS OF SUBURBIA

A LINEAGE

FAMILY TREES

PERFORMED HOUSES

RECLAIMING THE SOUVENIR

EMBROIDERY & ETCHING