Jo Carol Mitchell-Rogers

Artist Statement

Lost Ones Series I am currently immersed in an ongoing series of mixed media pieces entitled Lost Ones. It began as a reaction to the sudden death of someone close. Once I started working with this subject matter and vintage imagery, however, I realized that there are many forms of loss aside from death – the loss of self, of relationships, of direction, of identity, of purpose… the list is long.

The work had shifted in the recent years and I find myself increasingly interested in constructing narratives rather than commenting on existing ones. Working with vintage family photos as source material, I manipulate the scenarios by combining images, altering the physical and emotional relationships among the figures, and/or by creating alternative contexts in order suggest open-ended narratives. These moments from the lives of strangers captivate me. I’m intrigued by their stories and often wonder how once precious family mementos could end up at flea markets and thrift stores. By appropriating their images and suggesting new narratives, these figures are, in some small way, no longer “lost ones”. It is my hope that the work captures a range of feelings from nostalgia to uneasiness to a sense of absence – of something perceived, but existing just outside our grasp.