Monica Vidal
http://monicart.com
I call attention to the imprecise nature of individual experiences. I drop the boundaries between the viewer and the art and myself. I use familiar mediums and intimate stories to connect with the viewer on a personal level.

In my works on paper I illustrate stories of characters that take place in unreal environments. My characters, the Flayed Monks, which draw inspiration from the Aztec myth of Xipe Totec and the Japanese Yamabushi, act out rituals of renewal and celebration. These protagonists developed simultaneously with Hive 1: Tumor Hive. Tumor Hive was a monument to a lump of cells run amok in my body that caused both the exhaustion and tedium of illness and then the exhilaration of a renewed appreciation of health and the simple pleasure of activity. Tumor Hive was made to abstractly represent the tumor through its palette of pink, red and cream tones and its scale evokes the size of its impact upon my life.

After Tumor Hive, I asked myself what else would the Flayed Monks do and where and my answer was Hive 2: Temple Hive. Temple Hive is an idealization of the act of building a blanket fort in childhood and an exploration of my current interest in meditation. It is suggestive of the aesthetics of my childhood home in the 70s and references the colors and shapes of stupas and temples. Temple Hive also takes a step beyond Tumor Hive by inviting the audience to stand or sit within its structure and participate in the experience. I added the practical architecture of a tent-like structure, collapsible and portable, to share the work with a larger audience. A youthful act of retreating into a shamble of chairs and blankets is now transformed into an invitation to contemplate pattern, form and color.

My process of creating the work is fairly intuitive and I use a mixture of ideas which come from a wide range of interests, including the everyday life of other cultures, the nature of memory, a history of craft, unconventional architecture and the act of storytelling. The hexagons of Temple mimic the honeycomb cells of beehives and I found the pattern while looking at books on quilts. This aspect of its making well represents my intentions as an artist and the dialogue I want my work to create. One story leads into another which generates new characters and intentions.