As an individual I often have difficulties remembering when certain events happened in my life in regards to how old I was or what year it was. For myself I can often remember time based off of other events. One example of this is that I always can remember when I met Richard as it was after a trip to San Francisco, and I tried to order an Irish coffee but they wouldn’t serve me, as I was 7 months away from turning 21. Or when my paternal grandmother died when I was around the age of 10. There was a song on the radio that she liked, and it was quite popular at the time so I heard it often. Or when my father passed away nine days before my 29th birthday. My father and I were 30 years apart almost exactly. Throughout my life I had problems with sleep and so my brain was not able to consolidate a memories properly.
This series The Most Common Lie is about going through a traumatic event. The reason I have chosen this title is that although I am a very open person I often say that I’m fine even though I am not, and I feel that everyone can relate to this.
In the images I have selected both a mourning cloak butterfly wing as well as a black swallowtail butterfly wing to embellish a set of six veils. The selection of these two butterflies were deliberate as before my father passed away I saw a mourning cloak butterfly and then after I found two black swallowtail butterflies in my garden.