Archive & Collections
Management

THE ARCHIVE

  The archive doesn’t just control how we interpret history, but also how we project the future. Derrida spoke about “archive fever”. It’s like an ache, and must lead us to a critical reassessment.       —  Joan Fontcuberta  

                     My library is an archive of longings.
—  Susan Sontag                                    

From all the quintessential qualities, the story of paper begins with a tree and its water system. Its durability, weight, transparency and texture seem as infinite as what media may be applied to it. Whether graphite, ink, gouache or iron salts, linen threads may also bind single or multiple gatherings. Layered and pressed, words and images become traceable forces that exemplify for centuries, the endless human quest for knowledge and ideas.

Originally trained as an archivist and paper conservator, my interest to see beyond the surface of the material world led me to delve into photography—especially the earliest etheric processes, famously called ‘heliograms’. Arising through the fibers of hand-coated papers, the image renders itself when exposed to sunlight.

Today, the arc of my search brings me back to work directly with individual artists and non-profit organizations with various stages of their collection’s management. Performed in phases, depending on the collection’s size and budgetary concerns, I guide short and longterm planning proceeding with:

• Inventory

• Preservation & Storage

• Historical Research

• Visual Documentation

• Catalog Raisonné

• Exhibition Outreach & Programing

• Estate Planning & Placement