Agam (from the series Bertha Alyce: Mother exPosed)

This self-portrait is from Block’s series Bertha Alyce: Mother exPosed, in which she uses the camera to explore her difficult relationship with her mother. She photographs herself wearing a necklace designed by the artist Agam, which her mother wore to one of Block’s exhibition receptions. The text tells the story of that night and finds the artist coming to a new interpretation of what the necklace meant to her mother, marking a turning point in her understanding of their lifetime of disconnection.