What do we leave behind?
Bodies and belongings
Memories and mementos
Evidence of who we were
Illustrations by Mercedes Leon, commissioned as part of the Remembering Marilyn series for the Proof of Life exhibition in London, 2015.
This is How We Remember: Left, Kept and Created
After a year of great loss, New Yorkers and NYCxDESIGN* visitors are invited to explore the themes of grief and memory through the contemplation and celebration of objects, the ones left by the people we’ve lost and kept by those of us left behind.
In this virtual exhibition, the belongings of loved ones lost are captured in a series of commissioned illustrations by international and NYC designers. Brooklyn-based painter and designer Yeesan Loh will present a new series of illustrations, created in collaboration with Grief Grit Grace.
Visitors are also invited to contribute their own objects and stories to the virtual gallery.
The full online exhibition will be live May 9-31, 2021. The original watercolor paintings will also be exhibited in Brooklyn, NY at the IC Store by WantedDesign at Industry City, from May 14th, 2021.
This exhibition builds on a series of illustrations I commissioned in memory of my mother after she died. When is a pen no longer just a pen? When it belonged to a loved one. When there is meaning attached to it.
We choose specific objects to keep from the people we’ve lost because of the meaning and memories we associate with them. Objects become artifacts. Belongings become starting points for stories.
By commissioning artists and designers to illustrate specific objects, we create a level of abstraction that helps connect personal meaning with the universal experience of loss. “
Curator Charlene C Lam
*This exhibition is part of NYCxDESIGN Design Days. In May 2021, in lieu of its annual design festival, NYCxDESIGN will present a series of Design Days taking place May 13–18, showcasing New York City’s talented design community.