Bella McCloskey

Family is an integral part of who I am. My mother is one of 7 children (Laura, Kevin, Sheila, Kathleen, Jennifer, Brendan and Kerry). Her brothers and sisters are adult children of alcoholics, and it has shaped each of their personalities and lives in profoundly different ways. Through the worst of times, in both childhood and adulthood, my mother's family, including her parents, have stuck together with a seemingly unbreakable bond. My mother's family is a huge inspiration to me, and it is what I chose to highlight in this long-term project.

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Although my original idea was to make all of my still images into moving, 2.5D images, I was captivated by the memorabilia, photos, and "little bits" of my family's belongings and felt the need to capture this,  despite the fact that this would bring editing limitations. However, I have built this page as a sort of "ancestral tree" or "generational map", containing multiple different forms of mediums (photo, video, 2.5D) and I think this was ultimately a better way to express my family in all that they are.

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This is a project I plan on continuing for many more years. if not the rest of my life, as an educational tool for my growing family, as well as to serve as documentation of who my family was and is.

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