Kaya Fraser

It all begins at home. Uncovering a practice that has always filled me with great joy, rummaging. Sifting my mums, dads, grans and nana and papas' homes to find things from my everyday past, that sporadically surface in my memory. Hoping that they have been archived in some way so that I can pay homage to them.

I use the term 'the everyday archivist' in my practice as I found it simply the most descriptive terminology for what I do. The recurrent themes throughout my work are unsurprisingly, the everyday and archival processes. The common factor between these two vast themes is the site in which I specifically look at; the working-class home. A site teeming of cultural everyday archives and heritage. I feel most influenced when sharing and collectively remembering with others, everyday memories or consciousness. This is kneaded into my practice through memory work which becomes visual and textual artworks. Primarily working with photography and non-narrative film and video — in a home movie style documenting my family and home — the everyday, in colour. Also documenting the intangible memories of the past everyday — the archive, in black and white. I nurtured learning to use sentimental cameras that found themselves in my care, after rummaging. Adding layers of nostalgia.

I have found great solace in the archived collections of my family, places I call home and our old everyday during this pandemic. Hues from the everyday shots now highlight their ephemerality.