Occupy Occupy Occupy

TWANAS

UCSC's Third World and Native American Student Press Collective

My first published illustration, for an article on Occupy Wall St. !!!

Writing of a Space

Kitchen appliances and pages of all topics line the walls from the tightest edge of the carpet to the highest crack in the ceiling. The tik and the tok repeat, over and over again. It takes my mind out to sea, like the ‘heave and the ho’ that pirates would repeat on a ship that sails across mountainous waters. A low hum of man-made mechanicals stays at a constant pushing my thoughts further. As the captain of this ship I sit and wait for those who dare to cross my path, ready with the answers to any battle brought forth to me. Past the screen the phone, the clipboard, paint and drywall, a herd of feet run down stairs and like a surprise attack the subdued orange door becomes a flag swung round to attract the animalistic creatures in the direction of my dormant world. Recklessly, the room is filled and my thoughts are bombarded with monotonous wonderment. To break the repetition I glide to the coffee pot and make twelve cups. The drip tangos with the tik and the tok for far too long. I set out sweet treats and the mixture of the two attracts more and more of these curious bodies. I glide back to my post and wait for more problems to solve. “Do you know where the Red Room is?” “When will she be back?” “My partner and I just broke up, I’m having a hard time with. . .“

An hour has gone by. The faucet sings a high-strung song that clashes with the melody I had forgotten about for just sixty minutes. It is silent again but that really means nothing. I move to the edge of my cushy chair with wheels and push back. As I reject the floor beneath the rubber bottoms of my shoes I am thrown back to sea. Though my mind seems to wander, I am still physically here; I stomp with great force to stop myself from knocking over a shelf filled with color-coded flyers. Each letter so homogenous, boxy and, unnatural. This place is nothing like the sea.

The buttons underneath my caramel fingertips can be pushed with such ease. My ten batons swirl their way across the keyboard and marry into an unusual symphony. Not static like the hum, it’s a beat all their own. The lamp is overheating, and it melts my caramel fingers to the plastic that lies beneath them, one finger up and the caramel spills over, forcing it to go down again while the next in line rises; in a uniformed march, the ten batons that are fingers become soldiers in an army, they do not stop their task until they are told by the commander of their fleet. A person walks in. My fingers abruptly halt their march and attend to the new issue presented.

Now as the room has filled. In order to not awaken the sleeping, annoy the reading, and disrupt the writing, I tip toe lightly up to the door. At first brush the knob is frigid and my hand flexes tightly in anticipation of the rush to come. I pull gently, allowing for the air to seep through pockets of nothing. The hairs on my arm stand tall and become still. The piercing air pushes with great might yearning to come inside; I lean in softly to pinch the door shut, and a fly burst through terminating the even flow of air. I push forcefully and cause an abrupt disturbance. Agitated that the single opportune moment for a quick step into a re-energized self has passed, I hastily search to spot the small intruder; the fly is my new task.

Study of a Space

(Primarily Vertical)

(Abstraction of Subject; Decontextualizing)

(Frame within a Frame; Change in Frame's Aspect Ratio)

(Uses Focus/ D.O.F to attract Attention to Object)

As Seen on Television

My friend Ashley Lloyd hooked it up! Here are some photographs from mua, documenting her surf teaching skillz and music notes - shown on TV in Fresno! Pretty epic if you ask mee!

http://www.ksee24.com/features/central-valley-today/Ashley-Lloyd-Surf-Instructor--128080198.html

By KSEE CVT

Check out some Ashley Lloyd music @ Ashleylloydmusic.com

My Future Child?

At the Starting Line. . .

preparing for the moment

to get set

and go.

February 16, 2011

There's somethin' about making your dreams come true.

No - not my goals or aspirations in life- I mean literally, this was a dream I had last February.

Now that, 6 months later, I can bare the vulnerability of finally executing this project that I once started...

Here is a shoot, based on a dream,

that ironically was about letting go, releasing the tight grasp a society I was once deeply ingrained in had on me. A society that defines beauty in such a concrete manner.

Edited by: Yours Truely.

Photographed by: Sean Vranizan

Hair by: Lindsy Castillo

"Those True American Womyn"

A commentary on 1950's womyns oppression within the domestic space

whom although confined to the enclosed walls of their homes had many weapons within the space, that this time are used a little differently. . .

In this 1950's "re-make" these Housewives reclaim their state-of-the art chef's knives, meat tenderizers, and good ol' laundry bleach and while regaining their power, simultaneously they silence their oppressors.

...This photograph may look like this.

But it reads a little more like this...

"Only the best for my Sweetheart!"

Now, don't forget, the day is not done until the trash is taken out.

" I make sure to only allow for the greatest quality product in my home"

But of course, Dinner Time.

The most important meal of the day. Always have it hot and ready when your Darling gets home from a long day at work.

Oops! Never leave any mess behind.

Keep those curls tight and that lipstick bright! Always stay primped and pretty.

And finally, the day is done and dark.....

and so are we.

" Dont worry my handsome man, I'll always take care of you,

...and give you exactly what you deserve"

Photographed by Yours Truely

Art Concept/Make Up - Gina DeMatteo

Models in order of appearance -

Kimberly Constable

Jesse Clarke

Kimberly Rambaud

Joshua David Burns

Natalie Macias Juge

Lindsy Castillo

Yarik Semich

Gina DeMatteo

Steven Thompson