"Un Tinto en El Verano"

A glass of Tinto de Verano represents a lot for me — so many relationships and memories were made over a glass of tinto during my study abroad semester in Seville. My host señora making it for me and my roommate and telling us not to tell the teachers at school, getting it for as cheap as a euro at local bars that would fill it to the brim, and sometimes just having one by myself or with a friend after a long day of class and work. It is the most refreshing drink I have ever tried, that cannot be replicated outside the country. With “Un Tinto en el Verano” I wanted to capture the moment a tinto is poured into your wide cylindrical glass, always accompanying the drink. Usually you put ice, wine and lemon soda in that order but I just went with showing a glass bottle in the shape of a wine bottle with “Tinto de Verano” labelled on it, suggestive of what’s happening. A cold, crisp pour that tastes and feels refreshing, and you are hydrated for some good conversation.

"BFFs"

I took a picture of an old couple sitting close together on a park bench, under the cool shadows of many surrounding trees at the Parque del Retiro while traveling solo in Madrid. Theimage exudes warmth, shows companionship, and gives me a sense of hope. Two friends/lovers“BFFs” simply sharing each other’s company on a Sunday afternoon at the park, recounting oldmemories, just catching up or talking about next week. With a posterize effect on photoshop, Ireduced the image to three layers of color. I wanted to use shades of green for the print to keepthe colors from the original picture, matching the trees and looking more like a park. I chose alime green for the lightest shade to give the print a pop, kept a leafy green for the middle shadeand a very dark green for the darkest shade to bring contrast.

"Kosmos"

We know Pythagoras from the theorems, but while reading into some philosophy, I came across stories of Pythagoras spending years studying and practicing mysticism in Egypt, where he had apparently “won [the priests’] admiration, and they permitted him to acquaint himself with all their sciences, a favor never previously granted to a foreigner”. He used the word “Kosmos” to refer to order and chaos. Inspired by some of his reflections, and things going on with me at the time of making this print, I made a collage with a man in the middle, wearing headphones and walking away, towards a chaotic scene with familiar faces ranging from Spiderman to Dobby, and even a giraffe and a UFO. It shows the high amount of information our brains are constantly subjected to and the number of absurd things that happen around us everyday but we get so used to it that we’re unfazed. I printed this in dark green because I liked the dark, mysterious look it gave to the scene.

"Time for Dessert ?"

Inspired to make another collage after my last print, I wanted to show a chaotic yet loving family scene, and what's better for that than a family dinner? In “Time for Dessert?” I put people fighting, shouting and throwing things across kids making faces and adults laughing as family members start bringing out food. Seems like the night is only starting out yet the room is already bursting with emotion. I bordered the scene with a broken frame, open to interpretation but suggesting that the night did not turn out for the best. But who’s to say? Fighting and shouting don’t have to mean something’s wrong. Sometimes it just means you’re home. I printed this in orange and purple since I liked their contrast and how it balanced the fun and dark parts of the scene well.

I was inspired to make another collage, this time something closer to my identity. My last two prints had been more generic moments, showing relatable imagery for others. I started collecting images from online sites of old Indian comics. They were colorful and had great unreplicable handmade art from years ago. I started piecing together this collage with no end goal in mind, cutting up images and placing them around, taking them out or editing them to create something that looked good to me. I started cutting down and keeping images that stood out most to me. I ended up with a few cut out text and images that I liked the most that I started placing around to balance the whole image. The message from the comic lines in the bottom resonated with me. I reached a point where it felt like a complete piece and stopped making edits. I titled this “Brain Collage” as it represents what goes on in my mind — what appeals to me and stands out to me.

Some Prints on Clothes

Projected shapes onto wood to trace and then cut. Assembled the pieces and used a burner for texture

"Stuck"

Disassembled old and broken electronics including a DVD player (legs) and an alarm (body, head and arms)