Gallery 229
September 19 – October 3, 2016

Reflections of a former self is an exhibition exploring the artist’s changing identity—from infancy into young adulthood—through various materials and their emotional significance. One of the pieces, New Son (an Elegy), is a screen print of Letten’s birth certificate, printed on hand-pulled paper that was made from hospital sheets and his childhood clothes. Another piece, non sum ego pater mi (I am Not My Father), is a mask made of various repurposed pieces of his father’s shoes, which have been molded in a cast of the artist’s face. The most recent piece in the suite of works is a full-size paper cast of the artist’s body. In keeping with the material repurposing of the other works, the paper for this was made of photographic emulsion scrapped from hundreds of family snapshots. Although the pieces individually exist to address transitions in personal identity, together they create a dialogue about the relationship between life and death.

James Letten is a senior in the LSU School of Art, majoring in Studio Art with a focus in photography.