Scripted Memories, explores the collective enterprise of creating "living history," within a contemporary American landscape. It consists of a series of photographs and moving images documenting reenactment events in their original locations, from this country's early wars, including the American Revolution. My interest in reenactment stems from a desire to seek out unique forms society provides for identification and self-expression, and to open up discussion about how we, as a people, remember our history.

Inspired by 19th century history and landscape painting, the images blend fantasy and romanticism with the mundane details of modern life. Paved roads, street signs and neighbors shooting snapshots rupture an illusion of authenticity, as acted out within battles, skirmishes and encampment life.

This clash between theater and everyday life, and between past and present, reflects an unconscious desire to escape from the present, from the complexities and ambiguities of modern life, including the unpredictable political climate that marks a new century. My images point to both a desire to preserve history, to fix it as definable and containable, and to an anxious awareness of the impossibility of ever directly accessing the past.