Publication Date
Spring 4-16-2025
Presentation Length
15 minutes
College
Watkins College of Art
Department
Art, Department of
Student Level
Undergraduate
SPARK Category
Art
Faculty Advisor
Armon Means
WELL Core Type
Cultural Wellness
Metadata/Fulltext
Fulltext
SPARK Session
Katie Mitchell/Art Senior Thesis: 9:15-10:15, 11:45-12:45, or 2:00-3:00.
Presentation Type
Talk/Oral
Summary
My work explores the relationship between people and the spaces they inhabit, focusing on Johnson City, TN—a place shaped by both history and personal memory. Through film photography and archival materials, I document landscapes and interiors that hold traces of past and present lives, revealing how time often alters place and perception.
Alongside my own photographs, I include images of my grandparents and great-grandparents, the land they lived on, and fragments of a past that still lingers. These elements don’t just serve as historical references but as evidence of continuity—of lives once rooted in these places and the ways they remain. Some histories are tangible, held in photographs and structures that still stand, while others exist in the spaces left behind, reshaped by time and recollection.
I primarily work with 35mm and medium format film, moving between black and white and color to capture shifts in mood and texture. The slow, deliberate nature of film allows for a deeper engagement with these spaces, mirroring the act of remembrance itself. In presenting the work, I am drawn to variations in scale and framing, reflecting the fluidity of memory and the weight certain images carry.
Though rooted in personal history, this project extends beyond my own family. It is a meditation on the marks we leave behind, the spaces that shape us, and the quiet ways the past continues to surface in the present.
Recommended Citation
Maryanski, Ainsley C., "The Holler" (2025). SPARK Symposium Presentations. 140.
https://repository.belmont.edu/spark_presentations/140
Included in
Art Practice Commons, Fine Arts Commons, Photography Commons
