HOMECOMING began as a literary work that I extended with images and artifacts: photographs of my parents at various stages of their life, together and apart, and myself in relation to them; images of pink flamingos and Florida sunsets and my parents' "Pink House" as well as a backlit photo of a billboard advertising the Florida housing development where they lived; artifacts ranging from my father's pipe, pipe stand, and LA-Z-BOY rocker to my mother's flowered china tea cup and handmade dresses and dolls.

My Aunt Madge made Fish House Punch every Christmas, and so that's what I decided to serve at the opening reception for the Installation. It packs a punch! There's Aunt Madge (1930) and there she is with my father many years later. Perhaps they hadn't had any punch yet. Click on the recipe for a readable copy.


I took this next photo in 1985. The developer never finished this housing project. The sign was still there the last time I looked (in 1997 when my mother died.) It looks like it needs to be re-touched. I put it in a backlit frame for visitors to look at while sipping their punch and beginning the tour.


 

I began the Installation with "Self Portrait in Mirror" (1985). I even set up a tripod with the camera eye focusing on the self-portrait. I wanted to make clear from the start that I am telling this story. I am also part of the story, but the act of storytelling allows me to separate myself. "I" am seeing, or "seefin'" as my mother said as a child: "seeing how things are," she explained to me--"that's seefin.'"

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