 |
| West Palm Beach, Fla. #1, 2012 |
InterviewCurious about her genetic link to others, artist Laurel Nakadate took a 23andMe DNA test and tracked down distant relatives on her mother’s side. (One of the founders of 23andMe is biologist Anne Wojcicki who is married to Google cofounder Sergey Brin.)
Nakadate’s maternal kin are the subjects of “
Strangers and Relations,” a solo exhibition at Leslie Tonkonow Artworks + Projects.
She chose to photograph the newly found strangers in remote areas under the evening sky and lit them with both flashlight and ambient light “because when we are lost in the dark, we use flashlights to find one another.”
 |
| Self Portrait #1 |
She started by cold-emailing relatives describing her concept, but wary her request was a bit peculiar. “It’s a strange project,“ she says. “[It’s like]:
‘Hi, I don’t know you, but we are related, and I’d like to make your portrait! Oh, and I’d like to meet you at night, under only star and moonlight. Oh, and the darker the location, the better.’ ”
 |
| Tyler, Texas #1, 2013 |
Nakadate traveled 37,000 miles (!!!) over 31 states to meet her subjects. “I slept in some of the strangest, saddest motels, I've ever stayed in…I saw a lot of abandoned storefronts, boarded-up houses, and empty lots,” she remembers. “Half the time, my GPS didn’t even know where I was.”
The lonely journey helped put the project in context. “It speaks about America in 2013, and that heavy feeling of being alone in the middle of nowhere, while still trying to make connections with strangers,” Nakadate explains.
 |
| Carolina Beach, N.C. #1, 2013 |
“My mother’s DNA revealed that, as with most Americans, there is nothing simple about the history of her family in America. She descends from Mayflower passengers, African slaves, indentured servants, and prominent figures in American history such as Anne Hutchinson, the Quaker martyr.”
“Because I share DNA with each person in the ‘Relations’ photographs, these portraits are also modern-day self-portraits.“
 |
| Akron, Ohio #1, 2013 |
A genome is more than a cluster of molecules to Nakadate: “It’s a map that connects me with others on this planet, and it’s a mystery, a list of clues, evidence of lives lived.”
Laurel Nakadate’s works are included in major museum collections, such as the MoMA New York, the Whitney Museum, and the Museum of Modern Art, Warsaw.
 |
| Kalispell, Mont. #1, 2013 |
 |
| Tyler, Texas #2, 2013 |
 |
| Cleveland, Ohio #1, 2012 |
 |
| Shelbyville, Ky. #1, 2012 |
 |
| Urbana, Ill. #1, 2013 |
