On October 4, 1944, as the Communists approached, my grandparents, Mimi and Pipi, and their newborn son fled their hometown of Saldus, Latvia. They spent five years as refugees in a war-torn Germany and eventually relocated to the United States. Their story is one of exile and immigration.



On October 4, 2006 I moved to Latvia in an attempt to reconnect with my deceased grandmother, Mimi. I too felt displaced in California, and was hoping to “go home” to Mimi's homeland.

This work is an illustration of my attempt to root myself in a foreign place, and my grandmother's desperation to return to a place in which she felt rooted.

In this work are texts from Mimi's Diary from 1943 to 1971, and my photographs from 2006 to 2010.