‘The Forgotten’ is a body of work inspired by the short story ‘Happy Endings’ by Margaret Atwood. Exploring themes of life, love, death, it highlights how the lives we’re living will be forgotten. Using old, extended family photos, this body of work explores memory loss and the self-destruction it brings. The Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve describes how our ability to recall information decreases overtime. The chart, first hypothesized by Hermann Ebbinghaus in 1885, illustrates that the first day of receiving information is crucial for retention.
The main piece of this work; ‘The Forgotten Woman’ depicts an extended family member who is unknown. Their whole life, positives and negatives have all been forgotten. ‘The Forgotten Woman’ offers some irony with the initial inspiration being titled ‘Happy Endings’ while the images have a dark, sad element.
