Artist Statement
The artist's binding and weaving are a recurring motif throughout her work and symbolize the feelings of entrapment brought on by personal traumas. Dealing with immense chronic pain from a 2016 accident that resulted in scoliosis in three parts of her spine inspired the thread-work rendering of woven bone.
A recent issue with her hands jeopardized her artistry as it left her unable to complete everyday tasks such as cleaning, cooking, writing, typing, or grasping and lifting things. The binding method also encapsulates grief which so often proceeds trauma. The threads represent a string of unfortunate events culminating in the loss of Aresti's beloved dog and recent heartbreak.
Aresti likes to use the theme of nature which alludes to transformation, adaptation, and evolving. After several months of physical therapy, holistic acupuncture, and chiropractic care, there has been some improvement in her hands which is how this installation came to be.
Every Part: An Installation of a Breakup 2020
Connected Components, BFA Thesis 2019.
A brief excerpt from my thesis paper,
In sum, the intention of this thesis project was to transform nature and other elements into an immersive installation. The artist is self-referential and seeks to create works of art that subversive, raw and interactive. In order to be vulnerable, one cannot be timid. She references to a traumatic accident in her work yet eases the audience members with metaphors of nature. In which she alludes to how transformational and cyclical nature can be. At first the more complex and difficult sculptures were hard to assemble. Also, the composition of the installation was of great importance. Finally, it was not as difficult to add final personal elements and the garden. It took the artist a monumental effort to set up this thesis project as she continues to suffer from physical ailments. She had to muster all of her physical, emotional and mental strength to assemble this considerable installation that includes two walls, a table she assembled herself, two abstract wood pieces, 2 pinecone sculptures, a garden, multiple ceramic pieces, a wooden sculpture, a garden and lastly many personal objects. Intrepid is the artist in her life, as well as, artworks which are always an extension of herself.
Images of my BFA thesis.
