Artist Book-A Foundation of Abundance
Crit Room at Hunter College, New York, NY
A Structure of Abundance that continues.
Between printmaking-a draft-and a deconstructed book.
In this body of work I explored mental, physical, and spiritual transformation through the investigation of adaptation, abundance, speed and slowness, finishing vs completeness, and the body as paper. This investigation guided me to question what it means to finish an artwork and what it means to allow an artwork to continue. How the body is the same as paper, holding and sharing memories, ideas, experiences, information, but also adapting to its space. And how abundance presents itself consciously and subconsciously in the work when you activate the resources you already have. Wether the resources are mental, spiritual, or physical.
To investigate these concepts I did the following projects:
1. Utilized and experimented with mono-printing to work faster.
2. Attached paper directly onto the walls and worked directly on it to adapt myself and the paper to the space.
3. Crumbled old drawings and new ones as draft balls to allow continuity.
4. Created a book with individual paged based on what abundance means to me. Allowing each page to move individually from hand to hand.
5. Created an interpretation of a deconstructed book with thread, wood, paper, and masking tape. Creating a structure which allowed 4 books to be displayed and easy to digest for the reader
6. Practiced abundance by using only the materials I already had.
7. And questioned my art practice to reconsider what it means for an artwork to be finished, and began to think about artworks as complete so they can continue to exist outside the studio.
12 mono-prints on trasnformation
12 mono-prints on trasnformation
After 6 years of no printmaking, rejecting the technical practice for year, I was presented with printmaking during the first day of class. I was not excited, to me printmaking was slow and time consuming, but it became my first test on adaptation. I decided to open myself to the opportunity and do mono-printing. It was instant and allowed me to work fast and get loose. In this series of 12 mono prints a ribcage goes under the progression of a ribcage in transformation. Each new print carrying ghost images from the previous one. Time, adaptation, memories, growth, resilience are presented ghostly. “Beginning,” The first ribcage in red brushstrokes is depicted on a blue background. Mimicking simple and early mark making. And the last “Human-Animal-Night-Day. Everything & Anything,” Depicts the ribcage with the head of a beast, maybe a tiger. Plants, the moon and the sun are present. Maybe is the representation of the creation of the earth.In another piece, multiple versions of the same figure repeat throughout the scene—stretching, thinking, moving, and resting—surrounded by words like invisible, universe, soul, and joy. A painting at the center reveals the back of a canvas showing a fragmented tiger—the artist’s spiritual symbol of courage. This tiger represents the power of repeated action, the drive to overcome fear, and the commitment to growth and self-mastery. Together, these works reflect transformation through discipline, spiritual connection, and conscious action, inviting viewers into an intimate space of personal evolution.
that happened in the moment. As I was figuring out what I wanted to do as my book for the class I started to experiment. I cut pieces and decided to write on each what abundance means to me. Each page responding to different concepts of abundance. Abundance in materials, money, the ability to use local transportation, school as a building of abundance. The detached pages allowed the book to be in abundance when I decided not to attach the pages together, allowing each page to circulate from hand to hand without attachment. In the picture you see a pile of books becoming a pedestal for this book. All of this books are my abundance. An abundance of knowledge I have read or will read at some point.
The crumbled book
“Phoenix-Rebirth of A Child Spirit”
was conceived through me and the wall. Attaching the paper directly to a corner of my studio helped me create an alignment with my studio as the body. The function of the studio/ the structure of the studio is like the body, and anything that happens inside are the organs at work. I am the heart. Each wall contains its own functionality. This corner piece happened as I stared at this corner for a while, just the way we space out or contemplate in the corners of a room. Once done I detached the drawing from the wall, but it maintained
Draft balls
Out of the small crumbled book of abundance, I came up with the draft balls. The draft balls where created with old works I had stored. They were sitting there and not serving any purpose. I grabbed some and crumbled them into draft balls. Draft balls became this concept of cleverness for me. As I was making the small book I came up with the idea to make draft balls and make them be a one page book. I thought the idea was clever, but in the process I was able to utilize what I already had, and I got the chance to allow collectors to collect them. Once they collected a draft ball they had the choice to open it or keep it closed. This became a collaboration between myself and the collector, where they by opening it or keeping it as a ball, they choose to complete the drawing for me. They balls were small seeds of abundance I shared with collectors to plant in their homes.
The deconstructed book
The deconstructed book came from an idea I had in my mind for 6-7 years. A structure that could hold information and share it. I had wood sticks and thread in the stood and an idea in my head. I told myself, is time to bring it into life so I can understand what this structure is. And once it was done, a classmate said, what if you get those small pages from the wall and add them to the structure. At that moment my book came to completion. Pages attached to the wood with masking tape, were showing text and imagery without closure. Sharing stories about the perfect human as a tree, the ribcage as our fundamental structure that holds us, the body at rest, and the body as never finished. These books are about past and current ideas guiding my practice.
These projects share with the viewer what it means to practice abundance by using what you have, and not seeking outside for more or with a profit in mind. They show what is possible when you work fast, and when you slow down. Going fast can work if the goal is not to finish, but to allow exploration and surprises to happen. By slowing down and thinking about continuity, I realized paper, books, ideas, are the same as the body. In constant change. It is never finished, it is being and continuing. It maintains conversation, exploration, change, adaptation. The paper, the body, this structure is abundant, it will change over the next three years or more until is collected.
A statement about A Structure of Abundance. Reflecting on the adaptation and the abundance of the body.