The recovery archive

2017-2020. The concept of a “recovery archive” was directly inspired by a friend’s “Intoxication Chronicles.” They were created to be two sisters of the same coin, two projects exploring the chaotic mental health of their creators, exposing self-imposed toxicity with undeniable honesty & bravery.

While I was creating the Archive, the ideal presentation I had in mind was the Windows Photo Viewer. The viewer moves thru the neo-slides are their own pace, each piece floating in the neutral grey of the photo viewer, isolated yet continuous. The series was then adapted to Instagram, after seeing the @dearcatcallers account, another kindred spirit turning selfies into candid exposes. Like they say #themediumisthemessage

The Archive has since undergone multiple transformations. For the 2nd Annual Gallery for Broken Hearts, I printed a tightly curated selection of square prints accompanying the following statements:

Are you alone today? Are you always alone? Or have you recently been rejected or betrayed? Are you bitter? Are you angry? Are you disappointed? Are you depressed? I am here for you.

Let’s reflect on our heartaches together.

Take out these prints & arrange them any way you like. Read these poems - my most intimate thoughts - to yourself or aloud. I hope that we can heal together.

But I know it’s hard, when those bitter thoughts rush through you, red & raw on this day devoted to love. Have you known love? Do you deserve love?

I struggle saying yes to either.

The road to recovery is long, & at times counterproductive. Unfortunately my mental health is tied to the relationships I have with others. Oftentimes… I am abandoned, disappointed, & heartbroken. Close friends reject my romantic advances, objects of affection ignore my existence; it seems everyone walks right by me; it seems no one wants to choose me. I am touch-starved & love-starved; I am painfully alone. Perhaps it’ll always be this way.

Thank you for sharing this time with me.

From 2018-2019 the Archive transitioned into glitch art, corrupted and distorted.

You can see more on the NEO-Recovery page and in the Recovery hub.

The Archive made a brief reappearance at the beginning of the pandemic. But who knows… maybe it’ll continue.

While the posts have been lost to the void of Instagram, you can browse the Archive in its entirety and in chronological order at its original home.