ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the relationship between grief, art, and the viewer through an exploration of traditional memento mori and contemporary art. Mourning has been explored in many ways in the arts, most notably during the Victorian period with mourning jewelry and hair wreaths. Art is a way for individuals to celebrate one's life and have a memento of that cherished loved one. Artists such as Pieter Bruegel, Keith Haring, Teresa Margolis, Felix Gonzalez-Torres and Nan Goldin all explore death and mourning in varied iterations. This chapter explores the connection between memory, art, death, and grief. As Charles Clary grieved personal losses, he began to collect discarded frames from antique stores, and thrift shops. They felt abandoned and forgotten much like his memories and trauma. By incorporating paper sculptures into these frames, he imbues them with new life and they become a personal reflection on his mourning process. The frames are installed in salon style groupings reflecting on the southern United States traditional home and the collection of memories found in hallways or staircases.
