Maternal Portrait

This video follows my maternal genealogical line, one rarely followed because women traditionally take the name of their husband, making it more difficult to find information down this side of history.
The video follows a timeline, from both sides of my family. It follows my mothers, grandmothers, and great grandmothers. I dressed up as these women, and provided any information I could find about their lives at the age of 20, the same age I am today.

I loved this project, it made me feel very connected to all these women who came before me and paved my path. I encourage everyone to ask their mothers and grandmothers about their maternal family tree, don’t forget the ‘her-story’!

One thought on “Maternal Portrait

  1. Hi Carmen!
    I’m so cheered to see this work – such a hard few weeks – and to see your investment and personal commitment to making this project is great. I love how you dressed in all the different styles, and found a connection to all your ancestors – at your age – isn’t it amazing all these “old” ladies were 20 too? It’s a great idea, and if we were in the studio, I think it would benefit from using more austere backgrounds, and more technically polished finish. Also I couldn’t download the file with the music – it kept giving a “fail” message – but I think music would have cluttered things – unless did you use music of the time shown? That could have been interesting. I wonder how even more simple presentation of the women might be stronger – and more affecting – without a lot of text – but definitely a great effort and would love to see more from you next year! All the best, to you, with splattered pants and headphones – an artist coming from the studio (just like I was too!) at 20….

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