Between Bark and Breath
“Between Bark and Breath” (2025) is a mixed-media artwork created by layering acrylic paint and gesso on particle board, measuring 48 by 24 inches. This piece serves as an introduction to my series exploring the interplay between memory and identity, inspired by an old photograph I captured in Mexico years ago.
In this interpretation, I deliberately abstract the environment and its human figures, aiming to challenge the viewer’s preconceived notions of reality and prompt inquiries into the boundaries between elements within the composition. Branches and foliage intertwine with the figures, dissolving the line between the organic and the human. A pronounced emphasis on the figures and dogs, highlighted with a ghostly luminosity, evokes the fleeting nature of memory and its inherent ephemerality.
Memory is often imperfect in its recollection, becoming an unreliable narrator of our lived experiences as it fades. Ultimately, “Between Bark and Breath” functions as a commentary on this unreliability of memory and as a conceptual prologue to subsequent works in the series, inviting viewers to reflect on their own memory constructs and the implications of neural impermanence on self-perception.
