Joshua Teixeira

In my art practice, I explore postmemory—the inherited memories of previous generations—through family photographs and heirlooms passed down by my elders. These memories, though not my own, shape my understanding of the past through storytelling and artefacts. However, because memories are subjective, the events I inherit are filtered through others’ perspectives, making truth and reality uncertain.

In Semester 1, I created portraits combining old photos and heirlooms, followed by shadow boxes in Semester 2 and a moving-image piece that mimics an old slideshow. These works formed my end-of-year exhibition, showing the development of my ideas across photography, sculpture, and moving image.

My focus has shifted toward exploring nostalgia—especially for times I never lived through—and how it distorts memory by idealising the past. Using family imagery, I reconstruct imagined histories, blending fact and interpretation to navigate my family’s past and my connection to it.

All of my works fall under the title "Negotiating Time."