Shanik Morales-Tapia
“Huitzilin” Shanik Itzel Morales-Tapia is an artist from Los Angeles, CA. They have created art pieces in a variety of styles including but not limited to: bio art, minimalist art, and most popularly land art. Inspired by artists such as James Turrell, Dario Robleto and Andy Goldsworthy, Morales attempts to replicate structures that are found in nature as well as art pieces that illustrate their personal experiences as a Hispanic, POC, LGBTQIA+ person. As their art develops, they hope to one day capture the intersection between nature and life in their art pieces. A Moment in a Lifetime
Collaborate with Another Intelligence
Located outside of Yaw, can be seen with good weather
Inspired by Andy Goldsworthy and his belief in temporary forever
Materials:
Rocks from the beach
Pine cones
Nature
Daphne - Incomplete
life forms which shed light on the way organic life takes shape
Inspired the Greek myth of Daphne, Rashaad Newsome, Theo Jansen, and James Turrell
The purpose of this art piece is to demonstrate how things can be made anew while still preserving the essence of what they were before. Accompanied with the story of Daphne, this piece is meant to be part of a larger sculpture that is not yet completed.
Materials:
Dry flowers
Holographic material
Mirror stickers
Cotton swabs
Fields of Flowers
Reimagining
Inspired by Andy Goldsworthy and the fibonacci sequence
Reimagining connections in the world
Materials:
Sea shells
Barnacles
La Muñeca de Nombres
Material Matters
“La Muñeca de Nombres” - English Translation: the doll of names.
Inspired by Dario Robleto’s A Defeated Soldier Wishes to Walk His Daughter Down the Wedding Aisle (2004)
Represents the women in Mexico that died to “Femicidio”
Materials:
American News Paper
“Canción Sin Miedo” Song by Vivir Quintana
“País-horror” poem by Alejandro Merino
“Sus Nombres”
“Hombres Necios” Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz
Names of Missing Women
Menstrual Cycle
Artwork that Uses Technology
Inspired by Ani Liu and her piece Untitled (Labor of Love) (2022)
Inspiration: in 2022, Roe v. Wade was passed. This risked the livelihood of people with uteruses and their freedom.
Materials:
Made using real data- my menstrual cycle in the year 2022
Red: my menstrual cycle
Green: my ovulation cycle
Cloud in a Jar
Make Art from a Dream/Dream-like State
Inspired by Navild Acosta & Fannie Sosa’s “Black Power Naps”, the dream of a child
It’s in the name
Materials:
Hot water
A jar
Lighter
Paper
Ice
Euphoria
An Art Piece made of Light
Inspired by Olafur Eliasson’s “The Weather Project” and churches
A replica of a sacred space
Materials:
Windows
Projector
Washable/White board Markers
Adam Haar Horowitz
Hidden Message
A Game of Perspective & Illusion
Inspired by Carsten Höller
How much do you notice about the world around you?
Materials:
Data Prompt: randomly high five people and record how many times the high five stops their conversation
La Croix box
Magazines; mainly The New Yorker
Wilted Flowers/Plants
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Manifesto:
Take Me for what I am. I was seventeen years old the first time I tried to kill myself. Well, that’s not exactly true. At the age of eight I wished I would disappear. At the age of twelve I wrote my first suicide note. And at the age of seventeen, I attempted suicide. I sat on that bathroom floor and imagined death, my old friend, holding me closer, wrapping herself around me and whispering sweet nothings into my ear. She held me closer than my mother ever did, she held me tighter than life ever could. And in her sweet embrace I realized that I did not want to die, I wanted things to be better. Wishing without hope is trying to fly without wings. Would I jump anyways? In moments of distress I imagine her holding my hand, whispering “if all else fails, you can die''. But to die is a right I haven’t earned yet. I have not failed enough, I have not lived enough though my life amounts to experiences and is not reflected in a number, a number that is a reflection of my years around the sun that is to say I am not the center of her universe she is the center of mine. Dandelions are the only flowers to encompass all that is important to me: the sun, the moon, and the stars. The promise of life, the light in the darkness, the existence of more, even if millions, no, billions of miles away. I love people. I love the earth. I love the flowers that rise in the cracks of the pavement that choose to rewrite the stories of their lives. I love people who laugh too hard and need not apologize afterwards. I love the way my friend laughs a silent exhale, the ways my teachers wish to learn, the life that is around me. I wish to hold it, create it, rewrite it and retell its story. Death has a hold I dare not shake loose because in a distant way that is the only way I’ve learned to appreciate life. People will not live forever, so stare at them for five minutes in silence attempting to stifle that nervous laughter of yours, tell them your story, listen to theirs, and love. Just love. Love the showers before you can’t shower anymore, love the music before it goes silent and just love. Just love. And take me for what I am, though I am not finished yet. And isn’t that a wonderful thing?