Natalie Bradford, a fine artist, and printmaker based in Kalamazoo, Michigan, uses prints and collages to explores memory, temporality, absence, loss, and the passage of time within families.
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“My artistic process starts with identifying my sources: I pull my inspiration from family photo albums dating back to the 1930s through the present day. I then make photocopies of the pictures and physically cut out pieces of the image to strip it of its details, which speaks to the absence, the mortality of people/places, and the fleetingness of memories. With some prints, I incorporate excerpts from old family letters by using an ink pen or hand sewing. I end my process by transferring the scraps onto a new piece of paper using lacquer thinner, or gel medium. In the process, the prints become immensely abstracted from their original start as a photograph, which shows the inconsistent but ephemeral side of our memories, while still honoring the past.”
![](https://www.pifmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/bradford_natalie_lightrain-1-720x1024.jpg)
![](https://www.pifmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/bradford_natalie_happybirthdaysadie-1-1024x817.jpg)
See more Natalie’s work on her IG page: https://www.instagram.com/natalie.bradford/
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