Hiraeth

/ˈhirˌīTH/

Noun (Especially in the context of Wales or Welsh culture) deep longing for something, especially one's home.

Nostalgia is nothing that is new to us: rather, it is a perennial human response to change, particularly of a transformational or disruptive kind. It appears to be different things to different people. While it can be a state of mind born from the encounter with objects from the past it can also be a form of coping with change and trauma. Yearning recognizes that the past is irrevocably gone, yet we constantly try to evoke, restore and return to it anyway. In a romance with my fantasies about home, an inherent sense of belonging coexists with loss and displacement. Nostalgia’s purpose becomes to soften the impact of life’s inescapable change, making sense of the impossibility of homecoming.

On view as part of the Parsons BFA Photography exhibition. The show is running from May 15th - 30th, 2023 at 66 Fifth Ave. & 2 W 13th St.