30 Day Artist Challenge

I am an artist that likes to stay busy. I am very curious and I like to challenge myself. Boredom isn't something I experience because I can always find something to tinker with. I think that's why I love interdisciplinary art. Blending genres and mediums is intriguing to me because the process allows me to experiment and express my thoughts and interests by incorporating multiple mediums. For example, through my filmmaking approach I explore poetry and the moving image.

I thought filmmaking offerred me something that no other medium could give me, but as I have been more open to merging painting on paper into my practice, I started to wonder what could I do that is similar to filmmaking but isn't filmmaking. I found myself looking into artist books. Especially, when earlier this year when I was developing a chapbook project. (I had to put that on the back-burner because of funding, but it's still in the works and will be published in late 2019...more on that another time).

So what is an artist book, you ask? It is art in book form. It can come in all shapes, sizes, and designs, on various surfaces, and it can be folded or bound. As a zine lover, avid reader, poet, and admirer of one-of-a-kind 3D objects, I thought, wow, I think this is a medium that might gather everything I like to do as as artist. As a filmmaker, I like to sequence images and create a non-linear narrative of sorts. As a painter, I like to play with the intuitive nature of abstract images. As a poet, I am interested in expressing personal emotion, experience, and connection. Can making a book blend all of this into one? I think so! 

My artist books for this challenge will primarily be made out of abstract  mixed media work on paper. They will range in size and will be folded. Since it's a challenge, I may incorporate learning how to bound a small book or incorporate collage. They will be small books so that I can easily do them in less than an hour. 

So here I am on Day Two. Yesterday, I completed my first book of the challenge. It's featured above. Later on today, I will work in my studio to begin another. I know there will be days where I will be so busy it may be hard to sit down and work on a book, but I will remind myself of my objective: to grow and do something new with my interests as an artist. Who knows where this could take me! 

You can follow my artist challenge for the next month on my Instagram account here: https://www.instagram.com/jesreyes/