The Family Tree is a living time capsule for extended families, allowing each family their own specific branch to share memories, hardships, or joyful moments with one another as a means to bring the family closer together with these shared moments available to share for generations. 

In my Family Tree, the trunk represents my cousin, Brad, who died of a brain tumor at age 13. During the one year from when he was diagnosed to when he died, all 75 extended family members connected in ways we never had before. I thought it would be appropriate to create a base in his memory, with “B LISKA” written on the side of the tree trunk, which was the license plate he wanted oto have on his first car. I created the branches to represent the various extended families that make up my larger one, with caps labeling each family’s last name and designated repository. Anyone in the family can use the vessel to share special memories and aspirations as keepsakes for other family members to view and future generations to see. 

The therapist's office can be stressful. loud white noise, complete isolation, often very cold. The most stressful part of all? Talking. A lot of therapists struggle to connect with their patients because often patients find that it's hard to lay out their story in an understandable way. Sob Stories is a module - based board game that allows patients to lay out their stories in a tangible way and show their therapists how they progressed through them. Each module represents a different part of experiencing and processing bulling and together they make up a course that a marble can move through, these modules magnetize to each other to create a path. The patient can then explore their story with the marble, explaining it to the therapist along the way. Each piece is made out of cherry stained wood and complemented by the weighty steel marble.