Statement
From awkward social exchanges to the trauma of death, I explore uncomfortable experiences and the empathy these experiences elicit. The emotional space created when someone passes exists in an ephemeral place, yet leaves an indelible mark one those left in deaths wake. The death of someone close can be an extremely painful and uncomfortable experience, eliciting people to ease this emotional pain with euphemisms, such as passing, losing, loss, or lost. In particular, I’ve been interested in the use of “loss” or “lost” as a substitution for the words “death” or “dead”. Yet, the person who has died is not actually “lost” since the living carries the knowledge of the dead with them. Thus, a place is constantly maintained for the “lost”. It is this emotionally defined space that I’m fascinated by, and how it indicates a person may no longer occupy a physical place, yet their presents after death represents a psychologically defined void.
— Debbie Quick