Fatum - la havana

In 2015, I was very fortunate to be selected by Self Help Graphics & Art from a national pool of applicants to be one of five printmaking ambassadors to Cuba, as part of an international printmaking exchange. In partnership with the Museum of Latin American Art (MOLAA) and the Richardson Center for Global Engagement, Self Help Graphics & Art selected a group of five Los Angeles artists to the Taller Experimental de Gráfica (Cuba) for the first printmaking exchange of its kind. The Richardson Center, which promotes diplomacy through alternative methods, initiated and funded this historic cultural and artistic exchange project for SHG. The selected artists worked at the Taller Experimental de Gráfica in La Habana, Cuba, each producing a fine art print in a limited edition of 30. 

My “Fatum” woodcut print was created during this exchange, and was printed with the assistance of the Taller Experimental de Gráfica printmakers on a press dating back to the 1700’s. The word Fatum is Latin for fate or destiny and references fate or destiny regarding the future of relations between the U.S. and Cuba and also the fate of islands like Cuba in the face of climate change and rising sea levels. Ambiguous by design, it can be seen as a fortune teller's hand drowning or rising, with the Castillo De Los Tres Reyes Del Morro in the background illuminated by a setting or rising sun.

In early 2016, the second part of the exchange took place with SHG hosting five Cuban artists, each making a print edition of their own, resulting in 30 LA HAVANA portfolios with 10 prints in each – 5 from the LA artists and 5 from the Cuban artists.