Incendios

dissecting the creative process: Chocolate's visa

How I do a painting?
I will show you the process, step by step.
Usually I work with live models or I gain the confidence of a interesting people (with food or alcohol or good conversation) and then I do a portrait.
But this painting was created as a product of meditative process that took several weeks.
It is why I will use this painting as example.

"Visa con chocolate"
By Ytaelena López
Mixed media in Fabriano paper
2009

I STEP

do a simple draw with pencil in Fabriano paper.
I set the color and technique that I will use for the skin: blue and pink watercolor. This is as a reference, only.
Then, I work in the visual focus of the painting: the eyes. I work with watercolor Ink and I use a masque for protect the white parts.




II STEP

Then I worked with the watercolor:
I did the loose lines in blue, then pink.
The lines follow the patch of the muscle... well maybe no. Maybe I did because I fell in that way, jejeje.
The same with water... I paint mostly with water.
Then the tenths with ink and then the lips with red pen ink. Before applied red I used a acrylic transparent glossy mask. ;)
And the eye again! Acrylic brown (? I don't remember the mix) is perfect for Dans eyes.



STEP III

Now it is the turn to play with blue, sorry, shadows.
Up do down: the watercolor dripped for the forehead to the down, in the shirt.
The blue color is color river that expanded and mixed, though the water's magic.
Then, the hair... an expresso coffe is mixed with sepia, then brushed, and then... mmm!
I like it!

But It's not ready yet



FINAL STEP (I jump some :S)

At least! the final version of "Visa with chocolate"

After correct the "Marilyn Monroe"'s dyed that I did in the hair with Prussian washes and finish the arm with the same technique that I used in the face, there is a lot of work remain.

1- The background:
If we are portraying a baker, the background should be a kitchen. I do the sketch of the kitchen in hard pencil.
But I don't want to steal attention to the main figure. I do the shadow with washes, using coffee infusion and the dirty water that I used for clean the brushes.
Then, when the paper is dried, I do all the background with lines, using fluorescent metallic and sparking Sakura ink gel pens.

2- The focal point: the cake (+the knife)
I always keep the space for the knife clean since the beginning, using masque liquid. Now I retired the masque and I do the lines with black ink.
The cake was already settle, too. I put a copy of a H1B Visa (American work permit for non immigrants aliens) in the cake, using medium acrylic gel. Then I cover with modeling paste (already tinted with brown acrylic), that looks like chocolate glazed. I put that "chocolate" in the knife, too. Then, some black and golden ink washes in the cake and... VOILA!

The chocolate visa's cake is ready to eat!

La chica de los rizos anónimos

La chica de los rizos anónimos
Originally uploaded by alrevez

Ytaelena Lopez

2009
Acrylic on paper
By Ytaelena López

Retrato realizado en menos de 1 hora,
con la modelos posando frente a mí,
luego de un par de cervezas
bajo una luz pobre
en el block de acuarela que uso para bosquejos.

No voy a decir que es mi mejore retrato, pero es bastante bueno, tomando en cuenta las circunstancias. Me gusta.
De paso, los colores me recuerdan a mi infancia en los ochenta.
¡Espero que lo disfruten!

INDIGESTO

No confunde el hambre con las balas
No sale a marchar por el pan
No deja de llorar al recuerdo del calor.

La verdad,
Le hacía más feliz la mesa bien servida porque no es agradable sentir el humo del estómago achicharrándose con el ácido del plomo recién digerido.

La verdad,
Le gusta escuchar la radio para no oír la sirena persiguiendo a los herederos de la miseria que corren por las calles de cartón mientras gritan por su vida drogados de odio.

¿De quiénes son los alaridos?
Luces rojas brillan desde la montaña cañón mientras hago papel maché con los restos de mi esperanza. ¿Quién la necesita cuando el ácido del hambre no te deja digerir tu último trozo de dignidad?

No le interesa
Si pudiese vivir encerrado en la vistosidad del araguaney ya se hubiese cortado como un gesto de patriotismo.

(Poema y dibujo de ytaelena lópez)

YTAELENA LOPEZ: My resume, as an artist

Education


2007 - Present Figure Drawing - Michael Markowitz Study.
San Francisco (CA)
2006 M. S. in Mass Communication - Spanish Language Journalism
Florida International University, Miami, FL
2006 Graduate Certificate in Latin American and Caribbean Studies (LACC)
Florida International University, Miami, FL
(2004 Bachelor in Arts - School of Literature [completed coursework]
Universidad Central de Venezuela/ Universidad Católica Andrés Bello)
2003 Bachelor in Mass Communications – School of Journalism
Universidad Central de Venezuela
1997 - 1998 Narrative Workshop - National annual contest - Caracas -
LATINOAMERICAN STUDIES CENTER “ROMULO GALLEGOS” (CELARG).
1995 - 1996 Comics Drawing course - School of comics Lopez and Acosta
1995 - 1996 Painting and sculpture - Cristobal Rojas Art School
Caracas, Venezuela


Honors and Awards/Grants

"Best Contemporary Installation" Award during the Dia de Muertos 2008 at the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts, 2008, San Francisco (CA)

CELARG Annual Fellowship for study literature with a prestigious Venezuelan writer, 1997 - 1998, Caracas

Monte Avila Editores. Book: “Voces Nuevas”, 1997 – 1998, CELARG


Bibliography


KPFA Radio San Francisco - The host Darren D' Leon interviewed Ytaelena Lopez (artist), Río Yanez (curator) and Candi Farlice (artist). (Radio 2050) Saturday, October 4th, 2008.

Crosscurrents (KALW) Radio, 10/27/2008, broadcasted also in KPFA Radio San Francisco at 6:30 pm.

El Tecolote - "Día de los Muertos en tiempos de cambio" Sally Douglas Arce, SomArt, Oct 02, 2008.
El Reportero (Local newspaper of San Francisco) - "Bitch, Welcome to America" Edition #46, January 11, 2008
SFWeekly.com - "How To Keep Your Bitch Down" — A New Mission Play Dec. 14, 2008



Professional Affiliations


Volunteer, Artists Television Access

Volunteer coordinator, Mission Arts & Performing Project

Member, National Association of Hispanic Journalists


Exhibitions


- Miscelaneous Flesh (paintings), City Art Gallery, San Francisco April 2009

- The Living Map (Interactive installation with photography of Valentina Vitols), Maison Bleu during the MAPP (Mission Art Performance Project). February 7, 2009

- HOT! HOT!! HOT!!!, Erotic Art. City Art Gallery, San Francisco (CA) February 2009. (Collective)

- Mujeres (Action painting and art work) Maison Bleu during the MAPP (Mission Art Performance Project). December 6, 2008

- 85@85, 3rd annual International Juried exhibition. MiArte Gallery, Coral Gables (FL) December 2008 - February 2009. (Collective)

-Muerte sin fronteras, Dia de muertos exhibiton, MCCLA (Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts). November 2008. (Collective), San Francisco (CA). Her installation "Virgen de la Diversidad" was awarded as a "Best Contemporanean Art Installation".

- Day of the Dead in a Time of Change (Collective), SOMARTS Cultural Center, October - November 2008, San Francisco (CA).

- FEMINAS (first international breast cancer exhibition), Galería Locarno, Talca, Chile October 2008.

- Illussion 7 Dreams/ Sueños (Collective), MCCLA (Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts). September 2008, San Francisco (CA)

- Bitch, welcome to America (window installation), Artist Television Access, January 6 -31, 2008, San Francisco (CA)

- BITCH: pavlovian solutions for the modern home, (video performance), Artists’ Television Access, December 2007

- 2008 ATA (Artists' Television Access) Silent Art Auction (Collective), Receiver Gallery, January 26, 2008

- Actos Criminales (Collective poetry performance with Poetas en Tránsito) - Biblioteca Nacional, Caracas, September 27, 2003

- ANI-MALES (Multimedia installation / Performance), Salon de Jóvenes Artistas, Galería Universitaria, Universidad Central de Venezuela, Caracas July 4 and 8, 2002


Related experience


I am journalist and writer at the same time. I have a poetry book published and I live to incorporate poems in my work. My experience as a online journalist is reflected in the extensive investigation that I use to do as a preparation for some installations, as you can see in the online multimedia map of "Mission, the virtual afterlife" in SomArts.


My concerns about immigration and minorities comes when I moved to Miami, where I studied Journalism Research specializing in Latino minorities. It was there when when I was touched in very intimate way by the drama of immigrants. The sensation of No-Place and their agony under the Ulysses syndrome, besides the poverty, it is a constant in my work.


Webpages:
http://ytaelena.com
http://arteyta.wordpress.com/


(Picture of Adrian Arias during ILUSSION SHOW VII)

THE TIED POEM (Ytaelena's Installation) @MAPP December 2008

THE TIED POEM (Ytaelena's Installation) @MAPP December 2008
Originally uploaded by alrevez

TIDES

And I looked me
in the mirror,
and the sea
came out
of my eyes

(Yta's poem)

"The tied poem", by Ytaelena López
Mixed media
2008
This installation is made as a reflexion about the gender violence. The voice of the woman (represent in the poems) is tied with robes to a physical condition (the tree). Though this way, the woman is exposed to the humillation to made public her intimacies (represent in the underwear), unable to do nothing.
The result? the gradual physical and emotional disintegration, the annihilation of her femininity.

Art vs. Crime: How the Mission's artists are helping neighbors feel safe after episodes of lethal violence

This history was filmed by Cassidy and appeared at SANFRANCISCO I AM

Discussions of the dichotomous nature of the Mission approach tedium, with shootings in front of valet stands, or the whole delicate flower thing creating enough dramatic tension to launch a thousand newspaper columns.The organizers of the Mission Arts Performance Project (MAPP) aren't content to just wring their hands: they're doing what they can to boost the Mission's thriving arts community while acknowledging its more challenging sides with their bi-monthly, multidisciplinary, intercultural event night.Connecting visual artists, musicians, poets, dancers and poets, MAPP weaves together storefronts, warehouses, studios and homes to form an art walk that seems to turn into a huge multi-block party. Homeowners lay down stages in their living rooms, scraggly artists gussy up and serve hors d'oeuvres.The night of Saturday April 4, MAPP held its bi-monthly multidisciplinary, intercultural event night. Connecting visual artists, musicians, poets, dancers and poets,

Thank you, Cassidy!

Miscelaneous flesh@ City Art Gallery

Ytaelena Lopez´show

March 2009
Café Chan Chan

April 2009
City Art Gallery

About Miscellaneous flesh


"Where are you from? In this time, you have the option to choose where you want to belong. It is a huge privilege that allow us to go more far away that a physical place or a racial identity. We can build an identity based in our vision of a better world, a new trans-cultural "American Dream". But for to do that, we have to accept that we are, we was, as a point of begin.


In my case I am woman, I am Latina, I am immigrant, I am a Yta.


I have to deal with the haunting of all the thing that I left behind me: the violence, the absence of hope, the death, the minority tag.

But I have the option to move forward to the person that I wanted to be: Yta.

Home lives in myself, come where I am come, it is my flesh.

If I want freedom, I have to take the responsibility in that change.

It is not a miscellaneous issue. "

Core Synronism by Karen Fox

Because this is a blog for support the talented people, I am copping the email that I received from Karen Fox:

I am offering Core Synchronism sessions this month in my home, and wanted to let you know. Please feel free to tell your friends and colleagues about this offer.

For April I am discounting the sessions for dancers, circus people and my friends. The usual cost is $125. In April the discounted sessions cost $50. Please let your peeps know, and make an appointment for yourself.

This is great work, as most of you have already experienced at least once. I have continued to study and last Halloween I received my full certification. It is important for me to practice...and also I want to get a sense of how this work will be received in the bay area. So, by partaking, you are helping me out as well.

Thanks,

I hope this email finds you rich in the qualities of you life.

Karen


Core Synchronism is a system of bodywork designed to assist Nature in establishing harmony with all parts of the organism, via the Vital Force and the Cerebrospinal fluid. All aspects of self are synchronized to the Soul Breath to access and release states of imbalance, trauma, pain, etc. completely from the system.


Core Synchronism is a gentle palpatory approach to healing and harmony. Healing is stimulated by deep states of relaxation. Core Synchronism is deeply relaxing, safe and gentle. This work is based on the philosophy of natural therapeutics, cranial osteopathy, polarity therapy as well as the palpatory and philosophical discoveries of Robert Stevens. Core enables a practitioner to access all layers of the physical and energetic/causal bodies to release disharmonic patterns from their source.

"Choose love and creativity over fear and divisiveness"
Bella Deluxe Entertainment
The Deluxe Mystery School of Feminine Wiles and Wisdom

If you want to know more, please leave your contact info in this post.

Karen will performance tomorrow April 4, 2009 at MAPP. For to know more, see locations:

The Living MAP: geo-tagging the dreams

La huida

No tengo las mismas montañas
Donde la selva esconde el aroma
De mi amado trópico cruel que araña
Ni la pegajosa humedad me entrampa
En su piel de gotas de seda

Que me ata con transpiración de cadenas

Con sueños de concreto,
Con balas de pena
Con candelas de desencanto
Con una renuncia que quema

Y ME FUI

Quería ver otras estrellas

Pero el azul no es el mismo
Y a veces lloro de pena.


(Ytaelena López, 2009)

Hot! Hot!! Hot!!!

El viernes 6 de febrero del 2008 se inaugura la colectiva Hot!Hot!!Hot!!! en City Art Gallery de San Francisco.
Como el nombre sugiere, se trata de una muestra de arte erotico.
Las piezas con las cuales participo son las siguientes:


$350


$200

Esta ultima, a la que titule "Dirty Blond" por error, esta a muy, pero muy buen precio para la maravilla de pastel, a la cual la foto no le hace justicia).

Si te interesa alguna de las piezas, no dudes en escribir

Name of the show: THE LIVING MAP: geotaging the dreams
Kind: A multimedia interactive installation
Where: The Blue House
When: February 7, 2009 8 pm to 10 pm
Who: Valentina Vitols and Ytaelena López
Description: THE LIVING MAP intent to do a cartografy of the hopes of the people that moves all around the America Continent.
The map have windows with photografies of childs (made by the Seattle based artist Valentina Vitols) and drawings of adults from Latin America (made by me), in a effort to give a human face to the abstract notion that we have of America (the whole continent). The people are invitingto write in post-it and locate in the map the place that they would like to be right now and why.

I (Pronoun)

No me había dado cuenta que estaba participando en la expocisión "I (pronoun)"

Estaba tan ocupada tratanto de sobrevivir que me olvidé que, hace mucho tiempo atrás, había mandado mi autoretrato a Projekt30, una galería virtual de EEUU.



En esta galería también he participado en las siguientes colectivas:

A Dark glaskly