Frank & Al on a Cruise
Frank & Al on a Cruise
By Laura Ayres
Artwork# 18
About the Artist
Name: Laura Ayres
School: Emily Carr University of Art + Design
Program: Photography
Location: Langley, British Columbia
Artist Bio: Laura Ayres is a photo-based artist from Langley, British Columbia. Her work explorers the lasting power of images - both as a physical object and as a distant representation of memory. Her work investigates how photography becomes universal —how everyday moments are documented across cultures and generations, creating a shared human experience. Working with a combination of original photography, family archives, and found photographs, her practice investigates themes of memory, loss, and the passage of time. Through her practice, Laura considers how personal and collective histories intersect with the environments we inhabit and how photography reshapes meaning overtime.
About the Artwork
Medium: Photograph / Mixed Media
Size: 4”H x 6"W
Artistic Statement: “Threads of Time" (2024), explores the ways in which words can enhance a photograph and amplify the value of a visual narrative. This series focuses on the photograph as an object and its ability to last several years, often outlasting the subjects depicted in them.
My focus stemmed from the silent narratives embedded within images discovered in second-hand stores. These photographs, once cherished memories, now linger on, bearing witness to stories left untold. Photographs once infused with personal significance, now gather dust in forgotten corners, and prompted me to embark on a mission to revive their value through my artistic intervention.
Through the delicate craft of embroidery, I stitch onto these photographs carefully chosen words and phrases all surrounding the theme of “forever”. In the making of this series, I draw parallels to my personal experience of inheriting photographs from my late grandmother, some of which were reduced to boxes slated for shredding due to their perceived lack of sentimental value. This series serves as a recovery of these overlooked fragments of the past, an attempt to reignite ideas about the physical image and the vulnerability of human existence.
"Threads of Time", aims to breathe new life into these forgotten photographs, encouraging viewers to pause and reflect on the enduring harmony of moments captured in time. To reshape perceptions and invite contemplation on the interplay between text and image, this series encourages viewers to reconsider the essence of a photograph as more than just an image.
