Stephen Gerard Dietemann

The Archaeology of Memory

The Archaeology of Memory series investigates my memory of my life through the recalled fragments emerging from the process of creating these drawings and paintings.   Each image starts with a self-portrait, which is them erased.  The remnants —  the palimpsest — are then developed as they trigger other memories.   The process of creation and destruction continues until a unique image emerges, one reflective of the feelings connected with a specific time and place.    This new ‘self-portrait’ contains all the prior images and erasures, but re-constituted to create a new image.  No longer a literal depiction of me, the new image — drawing or painting — is a more authentic representation of myself, my life, my hopes and fears.  As I am much like everyone else, my hope is that these images will resonate for others as well.

The drawings are done with graphite and colored pencil on prepared wood panels of approximately 14″(w) x 12″ (h) NIC frames.  The paintings are done with tempera, gouache and watercolor paint on prepared wood panels of approximately 48″ (w) x 48″ (h) NIC frames.

A piece from this series received recognition from Katherine T. Carter of Katherine T Carter and Associates, in 2019 at the Spencertown Academy Invitational.

A photograph of the artist and the winning entry — along with additional information about me and my other artwork — can be seen here:

https://imby.com/hudson/article/spencertown-academy-curators-exhibit-spotlight-on-stephen-gerard-dietemann/#gf_2