Memento Ossis: Graced by Ivory
What do we truly remember of those we’ve lost? After they’re gone, what lingers isn’t just their absence, but the weight of memory — the stories they shared, the gestures we mimic, and sometimes, the physical remains they leave behind.
Grief is heavy, but we anchor ourselves through objects — a photograph, a worn sweater, a ring. We hold onto these fragments to stay afloat. But what if remembrance went deeper? What if we carved memory into the very bones that once held us, loved us, knew us best?
This project explores the intimacy of physical remembrance — using bone as both material and metaphor. Bone is enduring, sacred, and unsettling. To decorate it is to confront loss directly, but also to transform it into something tender. The work draws from traditions of scrimshaw, ritual, and textile adornment, creating objects that are meant to be held, traced, and felt — stories preserved through texture and symbol.
It asks: can we make grief tactile? Can remembrance be both beautiful and raw? In a world where mourning is often distant and digital, this project returns us to the body — to the quiet, weighty architecture that remains when everything else fades.
These are what remain.