A call with my mother

A call with my mother

After spending some time making my 8.5 x 11 charcoal pieces I decided I wanted to create a large scale piece.

I had some heavy duty drawing paper so I laid it out on the studio floor putting weights on the ends to avoid having the paper curl and began spreading loose charcoal around with my hands. I wore a mask and gloves to protect myself from all the loose charcoal. After I laid out a few ikebana books open to select pages and began to carve out the image using an eraser.

At some point my mom called me. We began talking on the phone. My mom likes to talk about religion and Catholic mysticism. She told me a story of a woman who envisioned the end of the world. As she described the scenery I continued to draw.

My mom is very present in this final piece. I thought of her home town of Zapiguri in the mountains, I thought of the story she had told me while on the phone, I thought about my dreams, portals into other mystical spaces, stories of the supernatural I grew up hearing all resulting in this piece.

Alicia. 2021. Charcoal on drawing paper. 90 x 48 in. Chicago.