''Excerpts from the Palace of Anxiety'
This project is a re-mediation of memory, family and place. These photo diptychs are a blending of archival, analog, family photographs, many taken by my father’s hand, while the other half of each image is by my own hand. The project also involves text & video.
I was born to an immigrant family in the house that these photos document. The property had been in the family since 1929 but was sold a number of years ago. At one point four generations of family lived there at the same time including my immediate nuclear family. Prior to the sale and vacating the premises, I was able to document aspects of the house. I continue to access the property and the family archives as the project moves forward.
Originally published by Time Warner as web based multimedia piece and exhibited at the School of Visual Arts in NYC and in Europe it was exhibited as an installation of prints and video at the Mattress Factory Museum in Pittsburgh. Recently prints from this project have been exhibited in venues across the country as it continues to evolve. I hope to have a version of it distilled into a book in the near future
Francis Crisafio 2023