Memory Fragmentation is a well known phenomenon that happens to those who suffer trauma. We have all been suffering collective traumas-micro and extensive for the entirety of our submissions and acceptance cycle for this issue. It feels to me that in the beginning of of the pandemic most people tried out a new skill or hobby and pushed themselves in this way, this second year of pandemic for me has been characterized by settling in every meaning of the word; once we have settled, the fog has rolled in to cover the fragments in our minds. This fog is the curtain that is going to be drawn back to reveal what is new. Our brains are resilient and ever changing, when one connection is lost, it works hard to find a new pathways. I would like to think of cycle as the weeks you put up with saw dust covering everything as you remodel your house, you know that there are better days ahead but often the schedule is not what you believed it would be nor wish that it was. There is so much to be learned and discovered in this time but you may have to spend more time looking or utilize your senses in different ways. Perhaps if your mind has been trying desperately to defragment, as mine has, you have found yourself and your senses heightened in new ways. These works are incredible in their own rite but also a snapshot of the collective fragmentation of this time. As always, I am so very pleased and privileged to be able to chose among such high caliber pieces to curate this experience for you. As your journey changes, the fog lifts, or the fragmentation of your mind waxes and wanes, I invite you to come back to the river to commune with the pieces all over again, being open to what you might find reflected back at you.
—Anna Jordan
Visual Arts Editor