Revisiting my Raising with Jillian Abir MacMaster

Written By Susan Patrice
 

Revisiting my Raising with Jillian Abir MacMaster

Join us via Zoom on Wednesday, June 3rd, at 7 pm EDT

How can photography help us explore the experiences that shape who we are? Can photographing family members be a way to deepen our bonds?

In Revisiting My Raising, Jillian Abir MacMaster shares how two separate photo series come together to explore her experience of being raised Catholic and as a Palestinian-American growing up around her grandmother. The two series are approached very differently; one through straight photography and the other through cyanotype studio photos incorporated with mixed media.

The series Tata began in 2017 while the artist lived with her grandmother during, what she refers to as, “a depressive period of my life.” Turning the camera toward her Tata, or “grandmother” in Arabic—who is someone she grew up with but never truly opened up to—she noticed their relationship dynamic shifted. The act of taking photos together was something they both equally looked forward to as a way to bond. These images became an exploration of age, cultural heritage, religion, immigration, and family.

The series of cyanotype and mixed media Catholicism symbols has helped MacMaster process her experience of being raised in the church. Now through her adult and queer eyes, she looks back on these times and on the sacraments and rituals she was forced to undergo. “I think about the veneration of Mary in the Catholic Church, the treatment of women’s bodies, and women’s sexuality. I think about when I had to open my mouth for the priest to accept the eucharist.” MacMaster also explores the grandeur of Catholic aesthetics, the gilded beauty of rosaries, stained glass windows, and religious art. 

Jillian Abir MacMaster is not only revisiting her raising, she is reclaiming it.

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Jillian Abir MacMaster is a Palestinian-American photographic artist from Frederick, Maryland. She has a BFA in photography from Shepherd University in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. Through digital photographic portraiture and cyanotype processes, she explores themes of age, cultural heritage, familial experiences, and religion, specifically Catholicism.

Instagram: @jillianabirmacmaster

Website: https://www.jillianmacmaster.com/

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Jillian Abir MacMaster, Evening Ritual

Jillian Abir MacMaster, Holy Shroud

Susan Patrice

As the founder and director of Makers Circle, Susan Patrice designs and implements arts-informed community initiatives in partnership with non-arts organizations who want to expand their reach and impact through innovative cross-sector collaboration. Makers Circle has a deep passion for the power of the creative process to encourage adaptive change, expand awareness, and open up new ways of seeing and relating. We believe that the arts and artists should play a major role in community regeneration and non-profit advancement. Web design and digital storytelling are foundational to the work we do with non-profits.

https://kinship.photography/
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Rehearsal with Erik Mace