Yevgeniy Dynkin
Sunday, December 3rd, 2006When I originally started the family history collage, I was a bit lost. I didn’t know what I could possibly come up with to depict my family history. In class, we were shown different collages, many of them abstract. Two stood out in particular; one that used an eye and its layers to symbolize family history, and the battered American Flag. However, I didn’t like them because without an explanation, those collages would have no meaning.
I wanted a person to be able to look at my collage and get the main idea without having to read an essay. After thinking for a while, I realized that Flags and National Emblems were easily recognizable to most people. Also, people understand that rivers and arrows usually represent movement. My collage would be simple and easy to understand.
I started with the nationalities of my grandparents. My grandparents on my mother’s side were Ukrainian. So I put up two Ukrainian Flags. My mother was also born in Ukraine, so I used the Ukrainian National symbol. The arrows showed that while there was movement, everyone stayed in the same country. My grandparents on my father’s side were from different countries. One was from Ukraine, the other from Uzbekistan. My father was born in Uzbekistan, so I used an Uzbek Flag. The river shows that one of my parents moved to Uzbekistan while the other was already there.
To complete the pyramid I had to include myself. I used two rivers, because I was born in a different country. My parents moved to the Republic of Georgia, and that’s where I was born. Overall, I think my collage captures my family history in its simplicity, rather than the complexity others have sought. I did not focus on social issues, or on why my parents moved or how they met. I just presented the facts in a creative way.
