For my project exploring “the self” I have chosen to showcase parts of my heritage that I feel I still carry with me today. The wooden frame you are first presented with represents familiarity and a feeling of home. It reminds me of something that I would find in my great-grandmother's house when we’d visit her on Christmas.
The backdrop of the project is the McClure family tartan and aspects of my Scottish heritage. The McClure family came from the Scottish clan McCleod around the 12th Century. Making it the most dated part of my heritage that I could track. The frame in front of it shows the cover of an issue of McClure’s Magazine which is considered the first work of muckraking journalism. This kind of journalism exposed established institutions and leaders as corrupt.
The closer frames show aspects of my German heritage including the definitions of the last name Schatz: “treasure”, “envoy of the community”, “leader of the congregation”. The flowers and peanut squares represent aspects of German culture that my great-grandmother took from her parents who traveled from Germany to America, that then have been passed down from generation to generation.
The google maps image is of my great-grandparent’s old farm that I remember visiting as a child, where my great-grandfather would speak German and show me aspects of his life on the farm. This project reflects memories of mine as well as pieces of information that I’ve just recently found but won’t forget.
