PaperSoul

PaperSoul

The collage work as well as the business I created in 2010 is called PaperSoul. I spent many years in the poetry, and spoken word scene in New York City absorbing the essence of my hometown. All the images, faces, and textures I had encountered on a cellular level were not always translating into the medium I was always so comfortable expressing myself in. One Day I went to a local bookstore to pick out a journal as a gift for a coworker, and wasn’t moved by any of them. None of them really represented or reflected the things she was into. So I decided to grab my scissors, glue, a blank cover journal, and printed out some images of her favorite things and got to work. The outcome was a beautiful journal customized just for her. Pretty soon other co-workers of mine were asking for one too. I then decided to start a small business shortly after.

PaperSoul is the mission statement of my spirit. It is my meditation, and the joining of hands between my true essence as well as my soul. My work is deeply rooted in spirit, and frequency. Each piece I create is a prayer being answered. Growing up in such a vibrant city with a poetic eye trying to piece life together has never been easy. It takes a separate set of tools in the arsenal to truly navigate this concrete jungle. With my artistic arsenal fully stocked with my scissors, glue, images, and open heart I am able to cut and paste my desired outcomes, manifestations, and reach the ethereal cloud that this concrete doesn’t always allow me to touch. Without my divine and human form tools I would not be able to bring my downloads on to the desired canvas.

Collage art has allowed me to transcend, and reach portals. It is a part of my divine life purpose to bring these pieces to other’s. I want to inspire the dreamer’s of today, and the dreamer’s that will come after me. I want to leave this moment in time captured on paper to my lineage to show them we can heal in all forms, and mediums. As a single mother this time that I have to create is my radical self care. My son has now shown an interest, and created pieces of his own. Healing while creating these pieces, and knowing that I can ignite healing in others is the true joy of my life. Being this vessel for myself and others truly makes me feel fulfilled, and deeply alive.

The piece I chose to share is called This longing Vessel. Three days after making this piece I tested positive for Covid. So it was no surprise that the ribcage housing my lungs was being pulled from the water by a guardian angel. Spirit always knows, and was showing me what was to come. Along with a family death last year, and a slew of my own personal health issues this piece needed to be made. This piece is my ultimate prayer, an homage to the beautiful city that never gave up, and that I never gave up on. To the resilient soul’s that have roamed this city through pandemics, blackouts, and all the gritty in between. To my uncle now an angel watching over his offspring still learning, loving, and growing in the city of dreams. To my lungs for never ever caving in. To the scissors for cutting. To the glue for bonding. To the images never fading. We are the gems, and we are the stories that must keep being cut, pasted, and told.