Memento 2021

Editor: This is Jason Limon's "Memento," created in 2021, using acrylic paint. It's certainly a striking piece! The skull immediately grabs your attention, but there's also a lightness with the birds and ribbons... how do you interpret this work? Curator: The combination of memento mori and joyful elements really speaks to our contemporary anxieties. How do we reconcile our awareness of mortality with the desire for a fulfilling life? Notice how Limon uses surrealist tropes like the skull and birds but softens it with the pastel colors. Who is included and excluded from that pursuit of happiness, and at what cost? The letters, spelling what exactly? They might prompt a necessary contemplation on what is unforgettable, what we hold dear, what are we actively choosing to remember. Editor: They spell out "Memento," which seems fairly direct. I'm wondering if that directness simplifies a more complex message, or amplifies it? Curator: I would say it layers it! “Memento” suggests a personal memory. This work really operates on the intersection of the personal and the collective. The individual "memento" merges into the larger "memento mori," prompting considerations on collective memory, social amnesia, and which histories we choose to carry forward, and which ones we actively erase. How do visual cues such as birds influence or clash with that message? Editor: I see the birds now as more than just ornamentation, perhaps suggesting fragility or even lost souls. Curator: Exactly. Think about how their vulnerability plays against the stoicism we typically associate with the symbol of the skull. What does it mean to frame mortality with that delicate sense of loss? Editor: It encourages me to contemplate how seemingly opposing concepts influence one another! Curator: And how art acts as that meeting place.