Winifred, Ruth, Winifred

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Mary Jo Bole grew up near Lakeview Cemetery in Cleveland, which sparked the artist’s life-long interest in memorial sculpture. This mosaic work, completed over the course of 12 years, commemorates Bole’s grandmother, mother and older sister, who passed away from cancer at age 45. Bole uses tiny pieces of tile to recreate family photographs as well as imagery culled from newspapers and a health manual published in 1900. Bole’s relatives, whose names she references in the work’s title, appear in the ring on the right. The ring on the left features the appropriated images, in addition to Bole’s self-portrait in the bottom center. The background patterning is inspired by snowstorms and flowers.

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