Nostos Agos

Nostalgia is a universal phenomenon that has a unique paradoxical nature. The bittersweet afterglow evokes the need to either restore or reflect on the past. When we attempt to restore a time that’s perpetually lost, it opens us to vast psychological complexities.

In 1899, Sigmund Freud claimed that memories from childhood vividly recalled in adult life bear no specific relationship to what happened in the past. Rather, they are formations of childhood experience as represented through the distorting lens of adult wishes, fantasies and desires.

The work comprises photographs, found objects, a spoken word piece and 35mm photographic slides. This investigative project addresses the unavoidability of this phenomenon juxtaposed with the impossibility of resolution. The idea was conceived from a site-specific project that prompted memories along the River Taff. Throughout the practice a methodological pattern developed of restorative behaviour and repetition. The drive to recreate such memories from childhood became compulsive and strangely fabricated. This process became central to the work. I have used sensory influencers such as objects, sound and reconstructed photographs that conjure childhood memories and represent the yearning to restore an idealised past. Additionally, each medium touches upon the vast emotive responses experienced personally and universally. The combination of different media connects these experiences, extending the transient experience and memory, whilst prompting philosophical thought.