My practice explores the relationship between materiality and memory. How recollection shifts, distorts, and embeds itself in material. Through layers of painting and fabric manipulation, I explore how memory is an evolving archive shaped by perspective. The physicality of acrylic paint or stitching into fabric, mirrors the imprint of time on our experiences. Layering chiffon over my paintings mimics the thick fog within the mind. Found objects and personal artifacts such as photos, textiles, postcards, and other small keepsakes, serve as vessels in which I examine how memory is made, preserved, and retold. I am drawn to moments of overlap between personal narrative and collective consciousness, where a seemingly quiet object can become a conduit for shared meaning.
Using Mixed-Materials to Contextualize Memory
Cassidy Barnett (b. 2001, Flint, Michigan) is a multidisciplinary artist whose work explores the materiality of memory and the ways personal narratives become embedded within objects and places. Painting and fabric manipulation become visual metaphors for the fragmented nature of recollection, inviting viewers to consider the emotional residue carried by everyday experiences. Her work considers memory not as a fixed inventory but as a fluid, evolving archive shaped by emotion, absence, and the physical layers left behind.
Barnett earned her BFA from the College for Creative Studies in 2023 and is currently pursuing an MFA at the California Institute of the Arts. Her work has been published in Suboart Magazine Issue #26 and ArtsinSquare Issue #8, and exhibited at The Other Art Fair, the Muskegon Museum of Art, Buckham Gallery, Playground Detroit, Dream Clinic Project Space, and galleries and institutions across the United States.