A fur collar, one of the artifacts I’ll be exhibiting in my thesis show

I do a lot of planning (some might say obsessing) over every project I do. Now that I’m in my thesis year and have a whole school year to work on a single exhibition, that planning process is taking even longer than usual. It drives me a little nuts having nothing but pages of notes to show for weeks of work, so when I finish constructing physical objects, it’s always exciting!

This weekend was one of those times; I had a grant application deadline coming up, and needed to finish a lot of little project pieces all at once. My work is always about the human desire to collect, categorize, and master the world around us – both the natural world and the cultures of others. This year, I’m focusing on my family history and the manifestation of that impulse in my late grandfather, Oliver Robert Batsel, who obsessively collected exotic artifacts from around the world.

My thesis exhibition will be, essentially, an exhibition of those artifacts alongside information about my grandfather’s life and our relationship. The problem is that many of the objects in his collection are in dire need of restoration. I have been undertaking this task over the last few months, carefully cleaning and repairing documents, garments, jewelry, and all manner of treasures from – as my grandmother called it – his “hoard.”

Postcards from O. R. Batsel to my grandmother, Carole

By including personal photos and correspondence from my grandfather alongside his collecting practice, I hope to form a more complex and meaningful picture of the man’s life and legacy. I’ll be including paper ephemera like the above postcards from my grandfather to my grandmother, as well as bills-of-sale, tags, customs forms, and any other interesting scraps I could find. And I do mean scraps…

Debris recovered from the wreckage of my grandparents’ home in Florida

In 2004, my grandparents’ home in Gulf Breeze, Florida was completely destroyed by Hurricane Ivan. Much of my work toward this project has involved combing the now-vacant beachside lot, excavating pieces of the house that have been lying under inches of sand for over a decade. These pieces have become just as important as my grandfather’s collection itself; just as telling, just as heavy with history.

I still have a lot to think about in terms of how to display all of these objects together cohesively, but it’s nice to start arranging them, getting them in order, and considering them as one inseparable group. More to come, dear readers – but it’s all coming together!