Lineage, a collaborative exhibit

How much of our identity is carried in inherited threads of DNA, and how much is defined by family history that links us back to generations of ancestors? In this exhibition, sisters and artists Kristin Hoelscher-Schacker, Erica Hoelscher, and Andrea Hoelscher are exploring the concept of lineage in artwork inspired by family photographs, oral legends, and our own fragile memories. With the deaths of both our parents in the last three years, we lost a vital connection to our pasts. In the process of grieving and of emptying our childhood home, we have faced with renewed intensity many issues surrounding where we cam from, and how the past delineates our present and our futures,

Nine Paintings,
NuclearFamily

Each of the sisters made three of the paintings in this piece, two of our parents and one of ourself. 1960s black and white family photographs served as the model and inspiration. We grew up in the same home, shared the same parents, and hold many of the same recollections, but our genes, birth order, and life experiences formed us into the individuals we are today.

Some of the things that we inherit we are fully aware of, such as eye color, shape of a noes, or the way we walk and talk. Scrutinizing family photographs you can recognize some of these visible traits passed down one generation to the next. Others are a current running deeply below the surface, that nevertheless inform who we have become. In our creative process we tried to tap into that invisible current of our lineage to explore our emotional inheritance as well.

Where Memories Reside

Each of us is an archive of memories, people, and experiences that form our history and identity. Some of those memories are difficult to unlock or are even lost to us altogether. We installed into the recesses of this storage unit bits and pieces connected to our lineage.

Family is never one thing - it morphs and changes through time and is as variable as each of the individuals bound together by it. It is that shifting perspective that gives the most insight into where we come from and who we are today. We hope that the work in this exhibition sparks curiosity about your own family history. How has your lineage shaped your past, how are you creating your own family lineage in the present, and how will you preserve it for the future?