Augustine Pavilonis

Augustine Pavilonis

mixed media

16" x 20"

2018

My grandfather, Augustine Pavilonis, immigrated to the United States from Lithuania in 1915. He died when I was an infant so I never knew him, but I loved hearing stories about him. Most of the textural elements of this artwork are based on those stories: the wool fabric represents his job at the woolen mill; the light spot on his cheek is a map of Lithuania; and painted into the background are tomato seeds, soil and feathers because he grew a garden and raised pigeons on the roof of their Brownstone. I also added my hair to his hair to show our shared DNA.