Piecing Together

Video, 2006

 




In this video, I learned about and engage with my late Jamaican grandmother’s identity. A puzzle containing the image of my mother’s (Rosemary Reid) watercolor painting of my grandmother was strewn on a table. I struggled to piece the puzzle together, and was only able to do so when my father’s voice came into the video, as he recounted stories of my grandmother’s life in Jamaica and Trinidad. I only met my grandmother once when  my family and I visited her in Trinidad. Although I was only three at the time, that experience has left me with lasting, vivid memories of my grandmother and Trinidad. While collaborating with my father in developing the audio for this video, I expanded my knowledge of my father’s family and experiences growing up in Jamaica and Trinidad.