From the age of eight I spent my life between places. My home became divided, my recollections of place became organized by season. During the summers, my brothers and I would pack up and pile into my fathers van for a journey across the country, the destination being his temporary home. I usually sat in the back and stared out the window, daydreaming as the land moved under me, filled with anticipation to see a new place and be out of the middle of nowhere. However, once we arrived I longed for home.

Photography has the capability to suspend moments of transition. I am interested in using this to visually describe the space between the events or locations that are significant to my life experience. The body of work ‘another season slips while she lies still’ is an ongoing project that is created during my return trips home to North Dakota. However, the definition of home has become even more skewed. Now, it’s cheap motels by night, and a nursing home by day. Through the use of negative space and a specific palette I create the sense of space that mimics the loneliness and isolation of these return trips.

Photography has been a way for me to create a sense of personal history and place, while exploring themes concerning loss, longing and nostalgia. The photographs become a quiet meditation on looking.
Melissa Kaseman