Exhibit review: ‘Crowded by Your Absence’ at FAB Gallery

Tamara Deedman’s Crowded by Your Absence at the Fine Arts Building (FAB) gallery is a profoundly personal exploration of grief, memory, and identity, told through the belongings of her late father. The exhibition draws attention to the emotional weight of everyday objects. It shows how they can hold deep meaning and serve as lasting reminders of someone’s presence, even after they leave. By sharing this collection of personal items, Deedman invites the viewer to reflect on how loss reshapes our lives. And how the things we leave behind continue to keep a person’s memory alive.

The title, Crowded by Your Absence, beautifully captures the exhibit’s central idea. Absence is not just emptiness — it is filled with memories, unresolved emotions, and the weight of what remains. Through her father’s belongings, Deedman explores how grief transforms our identities. She grapples with being both a daughter and a mourner. She uses these objects to reflect on how her father’s death continues to define her, even as she navigates her own sense of self.

One of the most striking pieces in the exhibit is A Melancholic Archivation of Your Addiction. This piece is a painting made from beer caps. These small, ordinary objects are transformed into poignant symbols of her father’s long battle with addiction. The caps serve as a lasting reminder of a struggle that outlived his life. They also show how certain legacies continue to haunt those left behind.

Another powerful work, Lord Beer Me Strength, pairs a crushed beer can with a to-do list in the background. The can is a stark symbol of her father’s addiction. Meanwhile, the list reflects how addiction became a normalized part of his everyday routine. This juxtaposition highlights how addiction can subtly infiltrate even the most mundane aspects of life.

Deedman also includes a deeply personal notebook filled with simple, practical notes like: “Call social worker,” “clean out Dennis’s room,” and “notify ‘this person’ of death.” These cold, logistical reminders highlight the often-overlooked side of grief. The mundane tasks that people must tackle even when the emotional weight feels overwhelming. Referring to her father by his first name, Dennis, adds a layer of complexity to their relationship. This choice hints at the tensions caused by addiction and strained familial bonds.

One of the most haunting pieces is a life-sized statue crafted from her father’s clothing, arranged to resemble a body. The clothes, labeled with “Dennis Deedman,” stand as a ghostly reminder of his absence. This piece evokes the profound emptiness left in death. It illustrates how the things we leave behind can still carry a weighty presence, even in the absence of a person’s physical form.

The piece I Am Not a Daughter, I Am a Vessel of Grief encapsulates the central theme of the exhibit. This phrase speaks to how grief can consume and reshape one’s identity, becoming an inseparable part of who we are. It’s a powerful acknowledgment that the mourning process is not just a chapter in life, but something that weaves itself into the very fabric of our being.

In Crowded by Your Absence, Deedman transforms her father’s belongings into powerful symbols of grief, memory, and loss. The exhibit allows viewers to reflect on their own experiences with grief and how the things we keep can shape our understanding of loss. Through these objects, Deedman reveals how grief continues to shape us. And how the objects we hold onto carry the weight of both loss and love.

‘Crowded by Your Absence‘ showed at the FAB gallery from February 25 – March 15.