Renée Claire Tafoya

NEW DIRECTIONS

New Directions

This collection is called "new directions", not because the mediums are new to me, but exhibiting my artwork is. Art is a respite from my profession as a graphic designer and I don't usually show it. I make it and put it away. So that's what's new: taking my personal work more seriously, collecting the past year's work in one place and sharing it with you.

In this portfolio are a variety of mediums: photography, short stories, printmaking, and watercolor illustrations.

The monotypes are created with water-based intaglio inks on Rives and Arches printmaking paper; I used stencils made from actual leaves and photocopies of leaves. Each print has gone through the press numerous times, each imprint adding another layer of color.

In the winter of 2010 I went to live in Mexico by myself for six weeks. Going to Mexico is like stepping into a surrealist movie. The startling mixture of ancient and modern, poverty and abundance, filth and the sublime, create a reality very different from our North American experience.

The watercolor illustrations were also made while I was in Mexico. I don’t sketch landscapes or people; I prefer to sketch my inner life. Each of these watercolors is a result of something that happened while I was there. Each one tells a story

I hope you enjoy these stories, these interpretations, and this new direction.