naughty kitty art

My research focuses on the infamous town of Centralia in Pennsylvania that has been ravaged by a mine fire.  In my work, Dancing on the Ashes: Centralia, Pennsylvania, I combine historical fact with my own personal experiences to recount what happened over the past 70 years in the town. I want to preserve something that was once so beautiful and pay tribute to these places that will soon be gone. 

 

When we inhabit a place, do our lives become intertwined with the structure? Do the walls, floors, and ceilings absorb our memories? It is the witness to our existence, weaving our stories into itself. As we inevitably move on, the place never forgets. As it slowly rots away, it holds onto our pasts even tighter.

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The empty skeletons left standing after we’re gone are the only evidence of our existence. Whether it may be the shell of a home, a dilapidated factory, or old childrens’ toys left to rot in the woods- it is the ending to a story of which we will never know the beginning.