Tori Purcell
This week we would like to introduce a friend of Mother F Stop, Tori Purcell. Heather, Steff, Tori and I all met while we were graduate students at Savannah College of Art and Design. Her lively personality is reflected in her unique work. She has an open eye for culture, character and unique thought. Please check out her more of her work at the link below.
Tori Purcell is a conceptual artist who works primarily in photography, video, and installation. Much of Purcell’s artwork draws social and cultural comparisons between the American South and Cuba, echoing her own roots having grown up in rural Virginia and the roots of her husband, a recent immigrant from Havana. She lives and works in Brooklyn, New York, where she is a Visiting Associate Professor and Assistant Chair of the Photography Department at Pratt Institute.
Who came before
Who came before is a series of photographs exploring the ways in which people, both individually and collectively, remember their ancestors. Two specific cultures are investigated, the American South and African descendants in Cuba. The photographs take a close look at the artist’s personal familial roots, having grown up in rural Virginia and having married in to a Cuban family.
The rough, layered textures of the Cuban home and the clean, smooth textures of the American home come to reflect the values and the history of two distinct places. The Southern spaces radiate a sense of perfection with carefully arranged objects that allude to material wealth as a symbol of success and hard work, while the Cuban spaces show a casual arrangement of objects reflecting the resilient spirit of a people who value a wealth of culture and tradition.
Whether it’s Louisa, Virginia or La Habana, Cuba, stories told and retold through the years create the lore around a specific ancestor. Both heirlooms passed down through generations and figurines recently purchased or repurposed act as totems representing those the current generation has never met. Driven by faith and perhaps a little fear the rituals are followed and preserved. One would imagine reflections from these two places to be complete opposites and in many ways they are, yet at their core a genuine sense of reverence for those who came before shines through.
All images © Tori Purcell
