About the project

“Yesterday We Were Girls” is a mixed-media project about rebuilding identity. As a teenager, the artist left her family’s Mennonite faith tradition and felt the need to leave the entire culture behind. Her search for identity is characterised by her struggle with feelings of guilt and fear of the break with a system that had shaped her previous life, as well as the freedom of choice as an uprooted, almost adult woman. This large-format collage documents the slow process of rebuilding.

By adding and removing information, the artist alters photographs, fragments, tears and sews them back together to reveal her personal history and disjointed feelings. Although she feels distant from her family, as the piece shows, the cycles of womanhood and domestic life continue to repeat themselves, bringing them together despite ideological differences. The exhibition is supported by Artphilein Foundation.