behind miles : between words

In September 2023, on a week when the last breaths of summer clung in the breeze, and trees had not yet taken color, I went on a journey. I wanted to witness America through the eyes of a companion: a past lover, someone not quite a friend, yet undoubtedly a reflection of myself. I needed to capture a nostalgic America, returning to a state of girlhood, running away through the back roads and long stretches of highways that define the landscape of this country. between miles : behind words is the photographic documentation of a performative road trip spent living off the grid. Narrated in tandem with fellow artist, named in the series “Katherine Mathews”, the entire journey reflects a fantasy of isolated intimacy with another. Traveling from New York City to Bailey Island, Maine, I sought to make my own “home” that never really existed. Our shared name “Katherine” identifies a symbiosis of body and soul, yet contested as we keep our bodies in tension with each other. Overarching the whole narrative are letters that narrate the story; partially true yet honest in idyllic aspirations for love and the complications of perspective on fleeting memories.

This is a goodbye letter. One where we will both inevitably change without being witness to it. You will leave and I will stay here. And we won't recognize each other in the end. Hopefully, only for a short time. But there is nothing certain. Will you call? Will you remember me in the miles between us? Will the rocks you come across remind you of the marina at sunset where the sailboats stood still? Perhaps we will run into each other on some crowded street corner and decide to catch up. You will tell me about the person you've become and I'll tell you I've grown up. And somewhere, behind our words, we will yearn to run away on the open road together, putting miles between us and our lives. Back to the place where we played make-believe and time wasn't so cruel on us.

But in case that doesn't happen, I will dream of that home - that version of you - long after this goodbye.