The Scribe Painting

Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead) is a holiday celebrated throughout Mexico, in particular the Central and South regions, and by people of Mexican heritage elsewhere.  It is also a popular holiday in Southern Arizona where I live.  The multi-day holiday focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died, and support their spiritual journey.  “The Scribe” is one of several pieces I’ve made to commemorate various people. This one is in memory of a family historian. I used a heavy-weight paper with a pearlescent finish to make the skeleton, then dressed her in an origami dress of my own design. Her head is adorned with small fabric flowers and her faux ‘pencil’ is fashioned from painted wood. There are two small hand-made accordion-books and some ‘journal pages’ surrounding her. The purple ‘shadow’ surrounding the figure has a metallic finish with a little bit of shine to it. The piece is protected in a thin black plastic frame with glass, and comes with a Certificate of Authenticity.