Anatomy of an Oyster

Mother-of-pearl, which will in time become the pearl, begins to form when a foreign element is introduced into the oyster. Anatomy of an Oyster is a journey into the past – a path backwards to revisit places from the author’s childhood that help contextualise her present. It traces a story of violence, revision and integration from the abuses she suffered in her family as a child. It is, above all, an attempt to tell what needs to be told; a way of telling what could never be revealed to a now absent mother. And, at the same time, a way of telling it to herself. In this descent into the depths of remoteness, images and texts of the pearl-forming process accompany both new and archival photos, as well as short notes that capture her emotional, bodily and family memory. The pearl, which is an oyster’s autobiography, is the result of this exploration: a search carried out to find it, assimilate it, and finally remove it.