Lost & Found is an exploration of girlhood, connection, and identity through portraiture and experimental collage.This series presents girlhood as something that transcends a particular period of life. The collages blend personal and gathered materials to produce dreamlike scenes steeped in sentimentality and emotion, while the portraits highlight the ways girlhood is present in the lives of my close friends – navigating their early 20s, simultaneously on the edge of adolescence and adulthood.
The collages are constructed using a distinct visual language that combines familiar components, such as stickers and trinkets, with images from my childhood camera, personal archive, and the family albums of my friends. I rephotograph, scan, and digitally combine these to create scenes where past and present are in conversation.
The portraits thrive in the awkward in-between moments where you see the connection between childhood and adult selves. They give a glimpse into the lives of my friends and explore the way girls are expected to perform their identities through reenacting stereotypical girly activities for the camera while also embracing the camaraderie and shared experiences of girlhood.
Lost & Found celebrates the varied nature of girlhood by combining personal histories and collective experiences via expressive collages and intimate portraits.
Jessica Berger
(She/They)
Jessica Berger is a lens based artist from Toronto whose practice is engaged with themes of identity, memory, and connection. She works with collage, portraiture, archives and experimental practices to explore intricate relationships to the self, others, objects, and places.