Bethany Altschwager

Bedford Square is a part of The Street Layers series which started in 2015 when I was in the process of obtaining my creative arts therapy credentials. I worked multiple jobs, seven days a week, sometimes three different places in a single day. I started photographing graffiti and textures I found on the streets en route to each position to try to stay oriented and grounded. At the end of the day, I collaged photographs from each location into a single image. On the surface, the titles appear to be plausible cross streets in New York neighborhoods. In reality, the titles represent new, liminal spaces that I’ve created through my experiences and do not exist in physical reality. For me, these images represent the confluence of time, space, and the cycles of renewal and decay. Preserving images of that which, by its nature, will be washed away, painted over, reconstructed, repaired, or torn down highlights the tension between holding on and letting go. Images in these layers break apart so they can come back together in new configurations. I have continued this practice on and off over the years as a form of visual journaling to document detours, adventures, and changes both personally and professionally. Bedford Square is the newest piece in the Street Layers series and communicates the feelings of confusion and disorientation I feel in the wake of the recent presidential inauguration.