A Vivid Sense of Loss

PRAIRIE SURREALISM: This work is composed from pages of 1940s-era ledgers discovered by the artist during a campus renovation and preserved before they were discarded. Written by University of North Dakota staff members, the documents once recorded the ordinary activities that sustain and institution - work that is often essential yet rarely remembered. From a distance, the individual entries disappear into a quiet field of texture. Names, numbers, and records become nearly illegible, transforming documentation into abstraction. The work's title, A Vivid Sense of Loss, reflects the tension between preservation and disappearance, reminding us how much of history survives only by chance. Within the framework of Prairie Surrealism, the piece reveals the hidden layers that exist beneath familiar places. Like archival research itself, the work asks viewers to consider what is remembered, what is forgotten, and what traces still remain. Description: A collage of numbers taken from ledgers placed in vertical rows. The artist sourced this paper from old found in Gamble Hall that were discarded to make room for classes when Merrifield Hall was being remodeled. The ledgers date from the 1940s and were written by secretaries who worked at UND during that period.