Conversation and human connection form in intimate spaces and communal dining experiences. Growing up in the South, everyone’s lives, including my own, revolved around the next dining occasion. People would come together to mingle until they were kicked out of whatever home or restaurant they had taken over for the day or evening. Salt and pepper are often a constant in these spaces, present on the table for many visits, arguments, and forming of relationships. In The Salt & Pepper is on the Table, I personify the salt and pepper as iterations of my memories around dining tables, shared meals, and the conversations that took place there. Utilizing printmaking techniques, installation, and photography I am able to reimagine memories of being surrounded by people conversing at a crowded potluck and serving regulars southern food in a hole in the wall restaurant where the salt and pepper sat to witness it all.
