Nina in Charlie Newground
Failetown, USA series
Archival inkjet print on silk organza with salvaged objects and 
wood from Failetown, fresh rosemary
One of a kind
 2020
 
Failetown, USA - Deep in the pine forests of rural Alabama lies Failetown, a modern-day ghost town. These images are part of a documentation of Nina Faile, her family, and the emotional process of returning to settle the ghosts of her ancestors.
The property belongs to the Faile family, which has dwindled over the decades. For several years the land has been unoccupied for the most part aside from a few seasonal hunting camps. Nina decided to use her courage, strength, and determination to radically change her life and surroundings amidst the uncertainty of COVID-19 and move from Chicago into the ancestral trailer on the property she inherited along with her brother, Clayton. The trailer, a repossessed 1979 FEMA trailer, was uninhabited for almost a decade. 
In times of turmoil the easiest thing to do is to give up. I am inspired by Nina’s courage to move, and am reassessing my life and contemplating drastic lifestyle changes due to pandemic unemployment and uncertainty. 
This series has themes of queer identity, rural living, midlife crisis, healing ancestral trauma, and stolen native land.