LINEAGE.

 From the Romans came the traditional belief that the left ring finger contained a vein, known as the ‘Vena Amoris’ or the ‘Vein of Love’ directly connecting to the heart. With this tradition in mind, inspired and came the Lineage Series. In this series, every member of my immediate and extended family on the Rodgers side has been portrayed through the depiction of their left palm. Consciously choosing the left palm because of the traditional belief of the Vena Amoris, connecting hand and heart.

By removing the index of the fingers, the palm is taken slightly out of context. Allowing it to fill the space, the crevices and folds take on a topographical quality. As a family we are a unit, a collection of individuals related sharing biological make up. The unique palmar creases’ each person possesses establishes a specific indexical identity, also lending as a topographical map. As the lines vary across the surface of the palm, it resonates with the various directions, paths, and separations one goes through as they proceed in life and age. However, despite these individual pursuits, we all remain tied through this particular connection and bond as members of the Rodgers lineage.

The fragility and illusive quality of the graphite lends itself to the skins pigmentation and suggests the paper as the skin. These forms and folds also begin to have a direct relationship between the physical body and the earth. In close study, the indexical marks’ a body contains takes on a natural and organic rendering of crevices within the flesh. The relationship of body and earth establishes our mortality and is presented through our physical being and index.