'Artwork by Natalie Bradford' by

Natalie Bradford, a fine artist, and printmaker based in Kalamazoo, Michigan, uses prints and collages to explores memory, temporality, absence, loss, and the passage of time within families.

“My artistic process starts with identifying my sources: I pull my inspiration from family photo albums dating back to the 1930s through the present day. I then make photocopies of the pictures and physically cut out pieces of the image to strip it of its details, which speaks to the absence, the mortality of people/places, and the fleetingness of memories. With some prints, I incorporate excerpts from old family letters by using an ink pen or hand sewing. I end my process by transferring the scraps onto a new piece of paper using lacquer thinner, or gel medium. In the process, the prints become immensely abstracted from their original start as a photograph, which shows the inconsistent but ephemeral side of our memories, while still honoring the past.”