ROLLER COASTER; Scenes from a Marriage is a cinematic body of work addressing the complexities and challenges in long-term relationships. In our culture, growing old is often accompanied by feelings of shame. Terms such as ‘losing your wits,’ ‘becoming irrelevant,' and ‘being abandoned’ often haunt older individuals. My goal as an artist is to raise awareness regarding the joys and challenges of growing old together. It was the height of the pandemic. My husband (Don) and I were quarantined in our home. People our age were constantly being plagued by concerns surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic and I was experiencing a lot of anxiety. I decided to channel those intense emotions through making photographs. Over a period of weeks, it became clear to me that within our four walls I could create an infinite number of scenarios that illustrated the elements our marriage. My primary intention was to expose what it looks like to manage a relationship in our seventies. The process was a vigorous physical and emotional challenge that also required my husband’s participation. Getting his compliance was not always easy. Each time I prepared for a scene, I had to check lighting, focus, angles, and gestures and set the emotional tone. It would take me anywhere from days to weeks to manifest my vision. The making of the work has added a new depth to our marriage. Art Publisher Kehrer Verlag (Heidelberg, Germany) has released my first monograph: Roller Coaster; Scenes From a Marriage.
