Eternal Narrative

Method: Lithograph & Monotype

Opportunities & Constraints I

In response to big companies purchasing water rights for profit in exchange for “creating jobs”. “It’s a model of exploitation and capitalism where they basically come for the natural resources to exploit them and take them away to wherever the market is,” says Galaz Duarte. “When the market grows and has to satisfy consumers, they’re going to deplete the water here. So what’s going to happen? They’re going to go to another place where there’s more water to satisfy the same market and deplete their water. They’re going to go to leave this region without the resources to live a dignified life.” NPR

Method: Monotype

Six Pack Yoke Choke I

Given the long list of species modern humans have deemed as invasive, I wonder why modern humans were not on this list as well. Our irresponsible consumption creates waste that threatens wildlife on land and sea. These six pack rings that hold cans strangle ocean life as they get ensnared in them. One Florida brewery took action against these plastic death traps and rolled out a solution to make them safer.  But that is only one brewery. We need more sustainable solutions to address our waste.

Method: Monotype

Soft Borders

This piece is in response to the current administration who wants to use tax payer money to build a wall along the Mexican border. There are better uses of tax payer money to bring “value” to this country.

Method: Lithograph & Metal Pigment Monotype

Blue Ink Series IV

The color blue signifies tranquility and balance for the mind and body. It is also associated with depth, stability, trust, intelligence, and loyalty. To watch blue ink fall through water is mesmerizing.

Method: Lithograph

The Hungry Ghost

The hungry ghost is a buddhist concept akin to what we may call the unchecked ego. It is a part of the self that is never satisfied and can rear its ugly head to express disappointment when the desire is not met. Since it is starving all the time to satiate desires it becomes greedy, jealous, angry, judgmental, infidel, to name a few ugly feelings and behaviors. Traditional representations of the hungry ghost depict a human like figure with a long skinny neck and big belly. I chose to depict the hungry ghost personified in a jack rabbit along side its hungry ghost.

The hungry ghost is very alive in our world today …

Method: Silk Thread, Chine Colle, Monotype

Return to Life

I threaded the delicate bones of cicada over a drawing of a female to suggest the revival of her life after a tragic event.

“The Cicada is an ancient polyvalent symbol: resounding themes are resurrection, immortality, and spiritual realization.”

The female in the drawing looks back to reflect upon a tragic event depicted by a car crash. I continued the thread over the car crash frames to connect the two events. The three frames are taken from a stop frame animation of a match box car crash I staged in Washington Square Park many years ago.  Tragic events disrupt life similar to the way death disrupts life. We plunge into reflection, darkness, and even depression as we come to terms with the meaning of the event. It may take several years before we are repaired and resurface to continue with life anew. Just as the cicada lays dormant in the ground for seven years before returning to the surface so do we remain buried in our thoughts before climbing out of darkness to meet the light.

Along with the thread and the blood-vein like shape, there is a warm female shadow that also connects the two events. It is the soul that undergoes the spiritual transformation in the body. Here, at this moment, it could be her soul that is ready to help make the transition to return to life.