Installation with video projection and photographs
As my grandmother, Doralina, showed me old photographs and told stories from her younger years, I almost didn't recognize the woman in the photos. She looked so different to the person I've always known as my grandmother. She's lived an entirely different life before I was born. As we I explored her experiences through her memory, we started to paint a picture of who she was, the life she led. Working at the age of 14 at a tailor, marrying young to a Brazilian military officer (my grandfather), sewing her own carnival clothes to dance the night away. It changed my perception of her; it was interesting to realize that there was much more to her than what we already see.
This video installation features two videos next to each other, projected onto her old photographs, contrasting her present self with her younger self. One video is of Dora explaining her past, and the other depicts scenes of her beach house in Garopaba, Santa Catarina, Brazil, which we visit every year since I was born. The house has a strong connection to the current Dora I know, as I have always associated her with it. The videos capture my mother, sister and I listening as Dora storytells, and tranquil moments around the house/town.
