Richard and Catherine Dotson

Artist Statement:

This painting reimagines my fourth great-grandparents, Richard and Catherine Dotson, whose headstones—and bodies—still lie beneath the runway of the Savannah–Hilton Head International Airport. With no surviving photographs, their likenesses were reconstructed through artificial intelligence using images of myself and living relatives, bridging past and present through both technology and paint.

They stand within a landscape drawn from both history and memory. My great-grandmother’s home, once part of the original family land, was moved when the property was sold in 1975 and still stands today. The oak tree behind them remains rooted in that place — a living witness to the continuity of our family..

At their feet sits Shylah, my own beloved companion, quietly connecting generations through loyalty and presence.

This work is about presence in the face of erasure. Though the land above them has been transformed, they remain — unseen but not gone. By painting them at a monumental scale, I restore visibility and permanence to lives that continue to exist beneath layers of time, industry, and progress. When shown alongside rubbings of their headstones, the piece becomes both portrait and memorial — a refusal to let their story be buried.