“Life’s Story”

Artist Diaries

12/11/25

I have always been intrigued with the art process and the behind the scene. Feel passionate about the process pictures and the reuse of all the materials that were involved. It can be from documenting the color samples, to recycling some of the pieces onto the next project. For me the process pictures, are as much fun as the artwork itself. 

One of my ongoing practices is to place a brown paper as background for the art in progress. Serves for multiple purposes. I like all of my papers to be fixed on a surface, but at the same time thinking on the best effective way for future cleanup. The brown paper also absorbs the excess paint, and indirectly documents the process. If I’m actively working on a piece, and part of the paper becomes too saturated or interesting, I cover it to protect the image and texture that was created. This way I preserve the documentation and still allows me to continue working. In some cases, when the brown paper is fully covered, I practice lifting the covered pieces of the past printed works.

For Life’s Story project, I decided to finalize a cohesive brown paper, the size of my working fixed table. I feel viewers are also interested in the behind the scenes of how it’s done, and with this brown paper “discard” is like bringing the studio to them.

This project reminded me of how I have always been interested in graffiti. The traditional markings of hidden stories at nights. I also love the visual age history like paint on buildings that chip out, or that a street that wears out with traffic. Those steps of the side walk and shadows of dirt created, tell a story, an indirect pattern. Why do people stop and gather here? To cross? To look at a beautiful view? It indirectly gives you the research of urban planning, of materials, of construction. This brown paper gives that history of my art in the making for a few moments of 2025.

In regards to the collages themselves, I have been fully obsessed with photography and magazine tears since middle school when my mom’s neighbor moved away to LA and left behind a box full of music magazines.  This was my first awakening towards “there is more than what surrounds me”. There is freedom, loudness, experimental creativity than this society. With these magazines back in middle school, I created 6 collage boards and taped 3 behind my door and 3 against the wall, making a “secret corner” of what I considered mind blowing images. I still have the picture of my creative corner and probably still have some left over tears. I hope the printed magazine industry never dies.

Just to give you a bit of my background to understand my point of view, I went to a Catholic school in elementary and middle school with Spanish nuns who were very strict in education and behavior. In high school, I went to different all girls Catholic school, with American nuns. By then, I felt my classmates and I were tired of the enforced religious ideas. We had indirectly created wall towards the idea of going to Church and participating in the events. Maybe it was just me. There are probably some girls that enjoyed it. I know that some of my current Latin American friends from collage, are very loyal to Church and actively participate. Would be interesting to study the differences in the upbringing.

Life’s Story project is an opening towards the project I’m currently working on which is based on color inspiration from Moab, Utah. Sometimes I use the collages to guide me to the future color pallet I would be using. Life’s Story project also touches many subjects of my interest and serves as a quiet art reference bio to understand me as an artist.