(2001/2007-2008)This body of work is created from the components of “Family Archives”, a studio installation that I created between 2001-2006. Comprised of over 1500 objects such as rustic tools, child’s games, musical instruments, and small furniture that relate to my family’s history. “Family Archives” functioned as both a memorial to my family and as homage to the rich afterlife of objects. After being diagnosed with and surviving cancer in 2007, I decided to give “Family Archives” a new life, just as I had received a new life. After dissembling the installation, I created sculptures that speak to contemporary political and social issues with satirical overtones. However, my overriding theme is one of death and regeneration. My use and reconfiguration of found objects is a metaphor for the cycle of life, the endless physical and psychic energy that flows from one generation to the next.

Betty McGeehan