LulightFail and Keep Going
Posted on October 14, 2016
I still don’t like this image. I won’t include it in my portfolio. And yes, I would really like if it had never happened. But It did and it is ok. These are my feelings about this image. This piece or better said this “failed image” was supposed to be part of “The Secret Garden” series. It was the second image created for it.
Countless hours where spent trying to make it work. And it didn’t. I have come to terms with the failure. But it wasn’t ok back when I created it. This silly images brought me so much self doubt and feelings of failure. But if what they say is true, if you try, you are going to fail, it is inevitable. How you get out from that black hole of your own destructive thoughts is the real challenge.
For me, what works best is to find humor in the situation. After all, nobody got injured and nothing horrible happened. I’m still well and breathing. And, the bougainvillea needed pruning anyways. I know first hand that this is much harder said than done. This is how it goes whenever we are trying to get over our own mind games.
If failure is inevitable, learning from failure and learning about our internal battles is inevitable too. This image, as much as I dislike it, helped me set the tone and overall feel for the rest of the series. It helped me see what I didn’t want so that I could move forward with a clearer intention and some direction.
I still don’t like it. But it is ok.
The Art Classic: Oasis
Posted on September 29, 2016
The Milliards Sheets Art Center has been displaying fine art in the LA county since 1937. This year, I was thrilled to be accepted to their annual exhibition The Art Classics along with various artists from the Los Angeles Arts Association. The show was curated by Thomas Canavan who decided to set the theme: Oasis . Considering the current drought California is experiencing focusing on water as the central theme for the show makes the viewing experience a channel for reflection.
This show is now over but thanks to our virtual world I can make it live longer inside my virtual queendom. I hope the images that you see below take you on a path of reflection, on how you are using this vital resource:water.
Enjoy the show,
An Open Story
Posted on September 20, 2016
This time last year, I was walking through my back then neighborhood with a not mine dog, when I noticed a purple/pink spot hanging from a vine crawling on the neighbors wall. I’ve seen that flower before, many times. I’ve also seen it’s red version, white version and another purple/blue version. Every time I see it, it is an immediate stop and stare. The Passiflora flower has the kind of complex beauty that cannot be ignored. After a few minutes of looking, touching the velvet like petals and realizing one more time that no, this flower doesn’t have a strong scent, I kept walking. Back home, an hour later, I kept thinking about the flower and decided to create a story with it.
I walked back to the neighbors house and asked for permission to cut one flower and a little piece of the vine. After all, I’d like to know that one of my flowers is missing.
Back home I was confronted by the flower, the vine and a plain white wall. I had all the ingredients to craft a story. But was was the story?
With no clear path or objective I started doing. Click, click, click, the shutter kept going and different configurations of poses and elements came together.
From there to the darkroom, I ended up with only two keepers.
I considered that spark of creativity an isolated event and it wasn’t until a couple of months later that I decided to expand on the idea and create more images. This story wanted to keep growing; there was more to these isolated images. Fourteen more images came to life within one year and they took place in three different countries – Uruguay, USA, and Mexico. What once felt like a random one time thing opened up a box filled with meaning and possibility.
I’d like to say that the 16 images that I have today are it and that the story is over. But from what I’ve learned, stories are not cast in stone, they are open, fluid and ever changing.
