Some documentation from this semester…
Tag: painting
January + February Inspiration
Note: Sometimes the things I include in these posts directly influence something I’m working on; other times I include things that just inspire and motivate me to continue making work.
1. Flower parade featuring floats inspired by Vincent van Gogh in the Netherlands
2. This heartbeat gif
“Envy will eat you alive; cynicism will eat your work alive.”
3. Jerry Saltz’s tips for art students
4. Paintings by Guayasamín
5. Exhibition: Queen by Molly Zuckerman-Hartung and Dana DeGiulio
6. This sewing gif
7. Poetry Readings
“One of the hardest things about being chronically ill is that most people find what you’re going through incomprehensible—if they believe you are going through it. In your loneliness, your preoccupation with an enduring new reality, you want to be understood in a way that you can’t be. “Pain is always new to the sufferer, but loses its originality for those around him,” the nineteenth-century French writer Alphonse Daudet observes in his account of living with syphilis, “In the Land of Pain.” “Everyone will get used to it except me.””
8. New Yorker article: What’s Wrong with Me? by Meghan O’Rourke
9. Videos of the old masters at work
10. Vintage NASA Posters
11. Isabelle Arsenault and her illustrations for Jane, the Fox, and Me
“I’m not a celebrity, I’m a worker. I’ve always worked. I was working before people read anything about me, and the day they stopped reading about me, I was doing even more work. And the idea that if you’re a mother, you’re not doing anything—it’s the hardest job there is, being a mother or father requires great sacrifice, discipline, selflessness, and to think that we weren’t doing anything while we were raising a son or daughter is appalling. It makes me understand why some human beings question their worth if they’re not making a huge amount of money or aren’t famous, and that’s not right.”
12. Interview with Patti Smith by Alan Light
22 Years
It’s that time again. The official day that I sit and reflect on my life as a person with diabetes. I say ‘official’ because this is something I think about daily (no special anniversary needed). It has now been 22 years since I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at the age of 3. To avoid sounding redundant, I’ll skip the details about the struggle of attempting to manage some kind of control over my body. Instead, I’ll share some exciting things that I’m doing right now and have been doing that relate to art and diabetes.
- Children’s Book. Writing a children’s book has been a dream of mine since I was a kid myself. I’ve always loved reading and drawing and writing and thought “why not create a book of my own?” It’s taken a while to get to this point (I have many unfinished stories), but it’s real this time and I’m determined to publish it within the next year. The reason I’m mentioning the book in this post is because the book I’m writing/illustrating is meant for kids who are growing up with diabetes. I don’t want to share too much information yet, but I’ve been working on this since September and still have a lot of work left. I’m SO excited to share it soon. You can see peeks if you follow me on Instagram @anamoralesart.
- Thesis Work. For my MFA I have to complete a written thesis as well as create work for a thesis exhibition this summer in Chicago. Both are influenced by my experiences living with diabetes and the work that I’ve made about diabetes over the past six years. My goal is to document both processes over the next several months and share them here and on other social media platforms. I’m making plans for the steps I will take post-graduation, and that includes sharing my work broadly and figuring out how I can bring it into non-art spaces as well.
- Diabetes Study. This doesn’t directly relate to my art practice, except that it’s kind of like research. I’m currently participating in a 16 week study conducted by The Department of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Science at The University of Virginia. The purpose of the study is to test an Internet-based program for use with women with Type 1 diabetes who plan on one day becoming pregnant. The goal of the program is to help these women learn how to regulate their blood glucose levels for pregnancy. It is almost like taking a refresher course on how to manage my numbers, plus I’m learning lots of new information and making a greater effort to notice symptoms of high and low blood sugar.
- Education. While I don’t have much time to do anything else, I’ve still been thinking about what the next step is for me. In addition to being an artist, I am also an educator and I think there is great value in using visual art to spread information that encourages empathy. I am interested in any opportunity to bridge the gaps between people who are suffering in isolation and between doctors and patients. I want to talk to students, doctors, patients, parents, and partners about the power of art in the realm of medicine. Last month, my work was part of a display by Art in CME at the 41st Annual ACEhp Conference (Alliance for Continuing Education in the Health Professions) and I hope to participate in more things like this in the future.
Stay tuned for updates and more documentation of my progress. Thanks for reading! xoxo
Experimenting with Methods of Removal
Over the next several months I’m going to be making a lot more of these “cell” paintings that you may have been seeing and one thing I’ve been really interested in is methods of removal. Physically removing or covering these cellular shapes comments on both mortality and the nature of medical studies. I initially got the idea from artist Ross Bleckner, who has been a big influence on my work over the past year. He would paint flowers and then scrape them away to illustrate their short life span.
Early last week I completed my first official experiment using watercolor on Yupo paper. I began with a grid (of course) and wrote down a brief description of how I planned to remove or otherwise obscure the painted circle. I then painted the circles and proceeded from there.
Below are detail photos of some of my favorite results:
Thanks for reading and looking. Please share if you like what you see! xoxo
Fall 2015: Work
Against the Grains Show Opening
The opening reception for the Against the Grains show took place on Friday August 28th. The space that the Salem Museum provided for us was spacious and well-lit and we had a great turnout. The show comes down this Friday the 25th, so make sure to check it out if you get a chance!
The show included work by Jim Burtch, Michele Deemer, Cory Greer, Melissa Jennelle, Kent Moore, Frank Toler, Wayne Llywelyn, and myself.
Thanks to the Salem Museum for opening their space to us and thank you to all of my friends and family who showed their support!
Against the Grains Art Show @ The Salem Museum
Please join me and six other wonderful artists at our opening reception at the Salem Museum on Friday August 28th from 5 to 8PM. I’ll be showing some paintings that I’ve never displayed before so make sure to come by and check it out! The show will be up until September 26th.
The Salem Museum is located at 801 East Main Street, Salem, Virginia 24153.
Read more about our show:
Quick Update
May Inspiration
Last month I was largely inspired by performances and stories…
1. Movie: Big Eyes
2. Documentary/Exhibition: Marina Abramovic: The Artist is Present
3. Musical Performance: Banda Magda
4. Joseph Marr’s sugar sculptures
5. Kurt Pio’s diamond paintings
6. Karen Schwartz’s abstract paintings
Where Does It Hurt?
My final paper/project for my Writing as Art class last semester… I was going to make some edits before sharing it, but I decided to post it the way it was submitted first. I’m very attached to this work and will continue to develop it over the next few months. Creating this project was both challenging and incredibly rewarding. The thought of sharing it publicly gives me a lot of anxiety, but I am interested to see how others receive it. Please feel free to leave comments! xoxo