"Here, We Lay the Bones to Rest" Zine Collab w/ Alex Moonsang

Hi to all the beautiful humans reading this! I'm really trying to find a way to be more consistent with reflecting on here about my work and current adventures but it's hard initially getting a routine going but it'll happen for me eventually lol. Recently I've been working on a collaboration with Alex Moonsang (@a.moonsang & alexmoonsang.com), creating a zine and it's finally complete! Alex and I met through a collective we're in this year called The Gold Mined Collective and I couldn't be more grateful.

For those who don't know, a zine is just a small independently self published booklet, like a magazine. The inspiration behind this project was the bones will replace the word memories series featured in "The Burned House Resurrects" (link to purchase in menu). This series is special to me because it holds a certain vulnerability that I don't normally like to share. Bones are fragile and hold a lot of history just like memories. And I really like the texture of the word and the image attached to it. The only bones piece featured in the zine is "Burial Grounds" because the poems that accompany it in the zine are all memories that have been buried in one of our homes growing up. I didn't start the zine with this concept and structure but Alex pointed out that Burial Grounds seemed to sum everything up, and from there, we just went with it.

Alex's work is more than just pretty. Although I knew that even before I started working with her, after this project I'm realizing that her art is truly more than meets the eye. I love that as creatives, we have meanings for everything in our work that some may never understand or discover, but they're there. Upon finalizing the zine, she shared some insight to her intention with each piece and I wanted to share the magic with you.

About the cover:

"The two bones I drew are bones that are in humans and birds, the humerus (wings) though I'm pretty sure many animals share that bone but I though it was important!

The Chrysanthemum, which is my favorite flower also has multiple meanings but two that mean the most for me are in Japan, they use it during funerals but in China it represents longevity!"

About the first poem:

"And the hand piece I felt like talking about your brother as a moth and darkness. I put the moth in the palm, it's almost an uneasy feeling that the moth can fly free or stay underneath this hand that is either opening or closing."

The print copies of the zine will hopefully be available starting next week (Jun 08-Jun 12) through my website. We will only be printing 10 to start, each for $10. The goal is to launch a store where I can sell the physical zine copies, signed copies of my book, and more. For now, the digital zine is still available through Alex's etsy shop (link in menu.) I also considered starting a monthly newsletter with sneak peaks to upcoming merch, sharing unreleased pieces with you all and overall just checking in and letting you know I'm still alive and well lol

I will be writing a reflection about my trip to Toronto, Canada with Curtis very soon!