Eupnea {meaning “breathing in unison”} collective came together during the strange year of 2020, initially as a Creativity Lab and then during the pandemic lockdowns as a remote contemplative observation group. From these beginnings, the collective developed and then decided to use the Arte Laguna prize as an opportunity for a co-creative experience. Through experimentation and iteration, the group moved towards the four collective works presented here. Each collective work is composed of an original ‘catalytic’ piece by a different artist in our collective and pieces made by the other members in resonance with it.
This artistic experiment is also intended as a reflection of:
What co-creation means in our society today
How important it is to have an open mind and heart in order to understand, connect and embrace ourselves and the points of view of others so we can build on each other’s strength to better face our emotional struggle and enhance our creativity process
Catalytic piece: RAINBOW OF OURSELVES (by Joy Haughton) - Painting N. 3 in the combine
This piece started with a question: “what are the colors in the void?”. Which developed into another question: “could there be a rainbow of blacks?” For some people a rainbow of blacks may be a depressing idea. For me, it is the opposite - an invigorating invitation into the unknown. The original piece started to explore this darker unknown, but I realized once I saw the contributions of the other Eupnea members that it was as though I had been looking into the void with a dying pocket torch! Their pieces expanded the hints of the original piece to give a sense of a whole inner universe, boundary less and fascinating.
Resonant pieces: Giorgia Madonno - Painting N. 1 in the combine
The original painting brought me in another word, a word behind, not immediately accessible, dissolving easily, very light, real and unreal at the same time, mysterious. I felt like walking in another dimension, actually multiple dimensions going through a wall of colors and structural shapes. So, I created an artwork light and with multiple layers, like a sky reflected on transparent and structured glass pieces. I wanted to give a “misty” feeling and so I used spray color on top of the wall patty used to give texture to the piece and then, adding up here and there a touch of colors reflected by the wall of colors from the original painting. My sky wants to open space to fly into multiple and coexisting realities of the world created by Joy
Resonant pieces: Donna Chiu - Painting N. 2 in the combine
Joy’s curiosity to explore the rainbow of blacks and her positive energy gives me a new perspective to explore the spectrum of the unknown at both ends. The two journeys are a journey of realization.
At one end, though dark, the experience encompasses a sense of urge to break free from the forest of fear, to create a new form of life. When the new life travels to the opposite end, in its distilled form, it transforms and contextualizes the experience to glimpses and impressions of wonderland which the unknown could be.
My work at the two ends of the spectrum is created by a mixture of different mediums including acrylic, watercolor, Chinese ink, impasto gel and paste.
Resonant pieces: Anastasiya Berasneva - Painting N. 4 in the combine
Joy’s painting is very dimensional with rainbow belt solid in the middle of it all. However, when I was exploring Joy’s painting somehow, I was drawn to the bottom middle part, which is a more fluid and unknown dimension. And although at first instance it felt so light and translucent when I looked at it long enough, I started feeling like I am falling, and there is nothing to hold on to and it is not an easy feeling. This is what I tried to reflect in my painting – a lot of space that I need to swim through or even sink in with small oases of faded colour that will help me to get to the ridges that I created with texture paste.
