Navigating Unknown Histories (2019) is an archival video piece made in response to the recent discovery of 8 hours worth of Super 8 film that once belonged to my mother Eileen's adoptive parents, John and Mary. This footage hadn't been seen in over 50 years.
The work is a visual response to my exploration of this family archive, with limited storytelling about who John and Mary were to serve as a compass.
It is an exploration too, of the interplay between documentation and its unique role in adopted families, layered with my desire to know my mother and those who once raised her. Her reflections from our conversations play over projected footage that depict two young, just married people as they traverse the US landscape on a cross country road trip before adopting children.