Six Boats of Unearthed Memories

2023

metal, organic materials, wool, silk, glass, feathers

photos by Alissa Snaider

The work explores memory and the shared history and trauma of Eastern Europe. It consists of six boat-shaped layers, symbolizing six generations that have experienced shared oppressive experiences in different forms. Worn by a single model, the layers, initially forming a unified 3-meter-high structure, are gradually shed, revealing new conceptual dimensions with each layer removed.

In 1944, over 80,000 people fled Estonia across the Baltic Sea to escape Soviet occupation, many believing they would return within months. Fear drove them westward, toward uncertainty, but also hope.

On Sweden’s Gotland island, old boats are left to decay on the shore, honoring their service. Among them, archaeologist Dr. Mirja Arnshav discovered vessels unlike the rest – boats that had made the 1944 crossing from Estonia. The boat, central to this work, becomes a metaphor for the work: a vessel of escape, of memory, and of a society that continues to falter in its promises to protect.