Prominences
Prominences are the jets of fire that race around the sun, swirling at 4,000 miles per hour, sending up huge flames. These flames arch at up to a million miles above the surface of the sun. All of our life on this planet depends on the energy of the sunlight reaching us. Fire happens to be also my element.
During the past couple of years, I went through a series of hardships and challenges that led to a transcendent transformation. During this time of healing and adaptation, an image repeated itself in my dreams: that of a paper boat sailing through rapids. My daughter Emma and I were in it and I had to steer that boat to calm beaches but also in deep storms. This series is about those prominent moments that turned the healing process into a thriving one.
Another image that permeated my psyche was that of imagining the soul that needed healing as an oval shape. By giving it a visual form I could wrap it in bandages, cocoon it, take better care of it.
During May 2007, I was lucky enough to travel to Vietnam on research for my work. It was in Hanoi that I finally found a shamanic stone used by monks in Buddhist ceremonies. I found the right shape, the right object to represent the soul in this body of work. The Vietnamese live very publicly and socially and much of this revolves around food. The fruits representing the soul are also from there.
This body of work comprises different series conceptualized in similar ways but resolved differently in each instance, through printmaking, drawing, photography and encaustic. Series I through III relate to this inner search, series IV and V are more about maintenance, self-protection and celebrating life.
My work keeps on dealing with childhood and play. Lately, the pieces reflect more actions that we practice as children during play but acquire a different connotation when exercised by adults.
The text used on the paper boats is a translation of a song by Argentinean singer-songwriter Fito Paez. The title of the song is Tres Agujas (Three Needles).
