Borne of the discovery of a photo file in her maternal grandmother’s possession, artist Leslie Spak created a series of manipulated photographs that allowed for her engagement with a time, and a generation, gone by. At once humorous and reflective, as well as occasionally terrifying in its absurdity, Spak Photoshops the face of one child onto all his companions, exchanges a couple’s faces as they smile out over a balcony, and gives the face of a baby to the man who is holding him.

This work, rooted in themes of memory and personal history, gives voice to Spak’s interpretation and experience of her familial relationships, which have not been without difficulty, as made evident by Sangre’s epigraph: “If you want to give them an identity, children should be traumatized.” (Tomi Ungerer).