Title
Creation Date
2014
Preview
Medium
graphite, pen and ink on Bristol board
Description
Dimensions: 5" x 4"
Rights
© Jesus Guillermo Mendivil, 2014. Photo credit: Amber Grubb.
Keywords
baby, fatherhood
2014
graphite, pen and ink on Bristol board
Dimensions: 5" x 4"
© Jesus Guillermo Mendivil, 2014. Photo credit: Amber Grubb.
baby, fatherhood
Artist Statement
It is Tuesday, January, 14, I am with my wife in the hospital waiting for the outcome. The suspense of the anticipation is getting to the both of us. We eventually see our child’s heartbeat with the ultrasound for the first time. At that specific time, at that specific moment, several things were running through my head. Verbally, I don’t have “No Words.” for it.
The events of January 14th led me to create an accordion style book. The viewers can see a series of emotions I was feeling all at once, but I can also fold the book to have everything hidden. Stippling is used throughout the book. The process is slow. It starts with a dot, then the artist builds on it and adds more layers of dots to make an image visible. The intricate part of this work was really taking the time to analyze what I was feeling on January 14, breaking down the feelings in my head piece by piece, transforming them into illustrations, and making everything fit like a puzzle.
In some of the illustrations, I used the actual ultrasound picture as a reference to create the shape of the fetus. It was important to make this work real. One page of my work, has me comparing myself to my future child by thinking about if he/she is going to like the same things that I do. For instance, my favorite shirt/ their favorite onesie being the same design.
It was essential I depicted luck. There can be numerous complications with a pregnancy, but I am fortunate enough that my wife and child are doing well. Therefore, I drew a cartoon version of myself holding up a lottery ticket with rattles, and other baby symbols. With a scratch ticket, you match three like amounts, you win that amount. There have not been any complications with our baby thus far, in that sense I feel lucky because we are on our way to winning the baby lottery!
I have been with my wife for seven years. Like stippling, there have been many layers in our seven year adventure thus far. It started with a simple hello, a kiss, a proposal, a marriage, etc. Now we are four months away from the beginning of another layer.
I am moved by Kara Walker’s artistic style. She is able to create emotionally charged images without using color. Like Walker, I decided not to use color in my work. For me, those moments that I have illustrated were emotionally charged as well, because they are the inception of a legacy I will leave behind.