ARTIST STATEMENT
This work is a portion of my undergraduate thesis focusing on human existence, mental illness, and emotional response. With every moment impacting the next, our minds explode with possibility, fear, and the never ending need to feel in control of our paths. The viewer is invited to enter my headspace to experience, relate to, and learn from my emotions, coping skills, and interpretations of time, space, and the mind.
Inspiration for this work comes from music, such as Raleigh Ritchie’s song “27 Club” and Apricot Ink’s song “Not OK”, poetry like Blythe Baird’s book If My Body Could Speak, and from my own experiences. Interpretations come to life using the alternative printmaking process of screen print etching on copper plates. The process blends two artistic disciplines, photography and printmaking. Screen printing serves as a bridge between photography and intaglio, allowing copper etchings to be created using photographs, which gives them a loosely photorealistic quality.
Understanding takes time, and time is not linear. Past experiences can become present problems, and present problems can feel too heavy, needing instead to be dealt with in the future. Maybe the mind feels like a deep pit that can’t be escaped, or there’s an overwhelming desire to be able to sprout wings and fly away. But maybe there are moments where one can simply look at a bird and marvel at its beauty and intelligence, or sit in the rain and listen to it hit the ground. There’s peace, even if only for a moment.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Novalí Centellas is a photographer and printmaker based in Grand Rapids, MI. She received her Bachelor’s of Fine Arts in Photography from Kendall College of Art and Design. Her work has been featured in multiple galleries, journals, and competitions. These include ArtPrize, Alluvium Gallery, Camelback Gallery, The Photo Review, and Woman Made Gallery. Her work was also written about in Voyage Michigan Magazine. Centellas explores time, healing, memory, and emotion through her photography and printmaking work. She utilizes juxtaposition, whimsy, surrealism, and confrontation to discuss ideas, challenge viewer perception, and encourage introspection and deep thought.
© Novalí Centellas