This series is an extension of the artist’s Union Pacific series where he photographed his father in the months following a train accident which severed the father’s dominate right arm and leg. The artist did not know his father until adulthood, and this accident occurred just two years after their reunion. In Performing Trauma, Dean visually exchanges his body for his father’s to further understand the inherent trauma and significance of meeting his absent father who survived near death. This performative restaging will ultimately recreate the full chronology of the father’s accident, recovery and reintroduction into society.
Somebody's Son: 2009
Waiting Room: 2009
Elevator: 2009