Nicole Gordon's latest body of work,
Postmemory
, explores the intergenerational impact of trauma and inherited memory.
The exhibition-showing at the Art Center of Highland Park from Feb. 28 to April 5-reflects on Gordon's family history of immigration and assimilation, spanning Eastern Europe, South Africa, Cuba, and the United States.
The exhibit gets its name from the term "postmemory," coined by author Marianne Hirsch, which explores how the "generation after" is shaped in rich and challenging ways by those who came before. Gordon's surreal dreamscapes echo this notion, blending childlike innocence with darker undertones. Vibrant scenes of children at play are tempered by a profound sense of loss. Decay creeps at the corners of beautiful homes. Paths toward love are hauntingly empty. Mannequin-like parents stare ahead, not appearing to see or understand the needs of their children.
"The imagery of these paintings is drawn from both memory and my parents' and grandparents' written recording of history. They are not meant to depict specific places and times, but rather serve as a visual depiction of memory and emotion," Gordon said. "My work tends to have this dichotomy-this idea of something beautiful, but the more you look at it, the more you find a little bit of darkness. There's a heaviness to some of my parents' stories as well as hope and resilience."
The first segment of the series draws inspiration from her mother's family history. Gordon's maternal grandparents fled Poland as children, settling in Cuba, where they eventually met and raised a family. Her mother lived in Cuba until she graduated from high school. The Cuban Revolution began while Gordon's teenage mother was visiting Miami. She never returned home, waiting years for her parents and sister to join her in the United States.
The second part of the series responds to her father's family stories. Gordon's paternal grandparents moved from Lithuania to South Africa before World War II, leaving behind family members who later perished in the Holocaust. Her father was born and raised in South Africa, but his anti-apartheid views made it impossible to stay and he left for the United States after university.
Each painting in the series about the artist's mother has a corresponding painting about her father, intended to be exhibited side by side. The exhibition also displays each piece with corresponding QR codes, which link to short audio recordings of her parents explaining the imagery of each painting. Displayed this way, Gordon's paintings simultaneously tell her parents' unique stories and communicate the shared immigration story of millions of Jews from around the world.
"I wanted to honor the shared history of Jews being these wanderers, and the resilience it takes to start over," she reflects. "After October 7, it became important to me not just to create these paintings as gifts for my parents and family, but to share these stories of Judaism and the Jewish experience with a greater audience."
Gordon describes
Postmemory
as "a love letter to my parents. I want them to see the beauty in the lives they've created, and for them to know that I see them for the three-dimensional people that they are."
Postmemory
will run from Feb. 28 to April 5 at the Art Center of Highland Park. To learn more, visit
theartcenterhp.org
.
Jenna Cohen is a marketing and communications professional living in Chicago. She recently earned her master's degree in Environment, Culture, and Communication from the University of Glasgow - Dumfries.
