The objects we collect are like the memories we collect. Our nostalgia drives our sense of self and identity. Suffering Juicebox explores how gender and identity are created through layers of memory, nostalgia and trauma. Nostalgia’s etymology comes from the greek words nostos meaning “return home” and algos meaning “pain”, and together the word means homesickness. Using domestic and exterior views I create moments of displacement, trying to find a sense of home in the chaos. The imagery of the juicebox is used to personify myself and my thingness. Thingness is described as the fact of existing as a physical object. As a young woman I am objectified, I become the object. I become the collected and the collector. The juicebox character investigates these memories, often getting lost in the details of what is fact or fiction while trying to find a sense of place and self. Creating pieces with built layers and found objects Suffering Juicebox takes shape through collecting, forming, layering, petrifying, erasing and reimagining. Pieces are assembled into scenes attempting to rebuild what cannot be obtained.