ORIGINAL FRAMED MIXED MEDIA, FOUND POEM, COLLAGE LIMITED PHOTO PRINT BY C.JOI SANCHEZ. 1/4

I SOLD THE PIECE I MADE FOR TELEPHONE SO I CHOSE THIS PIECE THAT MOST CLOSELY WOULD BE WHAT I WOULD HAVE CREATED IF I HAD BEEN WORKING IN COLLAGE THEN.

Dreaming Bones, 2013, wax on wood, 16" x 20",

Dreaming Bones Inspired by the poem I was given and is about connections through reverberations. Knowing something in our bones is an expression for our deepest instinctual awareness. The physicality of the medium of wax allows for the embodiment of this resonance.

As an artist, being handed a prompt and then mustering your creative forces to respond is always fun. In this game, the prompt can be anything - words, music, text or another visual. That is also part of the surprise. This is my third time playing and I have received a poem, another visual art piece and music. Each time was a pleasure.

Created as a response to another artist's work in the Telephone Project, this collage was made while recovering from reconstructive foot surgery. Comic book fragments featuring "BANG!" explosions and violent imagery punctuate the surface as metaphors for the sharp, sudden nature of surgical pain, while feverish reds, yellows, and oranges evoke the heightened sensory experience of post-operative healing. The collage method itself becomes metaphor for surgical intervention—cutting, repositioning, layering, and rebuilding—paralleling both the Telephone Project's transformative framework and the body's reconstructive process. This work ultimately documents a moment of profound vulnerability transformed into creative power.

Mixed media on silk fabric.

11 1/4 in x 17 3/4 in.

I invented an alphabet in 2017. Through collage, found objects, printmaking and drawing I create maps. This work draws from my transracial Guatemalan adoption exploring themes of language, absent heritage and identity.

artwork created for telephone, upcycled fabric collage with details drawn in ink, 28x28in

My art and tapestry, harmonize the art of sewing with the poignant practice

of storytelling. Each piece is a tapestry of experiences, meticulously crafted

from fabric scraps with their distinct tale and history, ranging in size from

2-7.5ft wide.

I elevates these woven narratives further by adding fine details with ink

and non-toxic paint. My artwork has been seen in solo and group exhibitions

and private collections since 2002.

11"x14"

This is a surreal self-portrait from my "girl with camera" series. I often find myself both in front of and behind the camera and am constantly negotiating my relationship with this tool.

Photography

Alternative ink-based printing process

Toned cyanotype on watercolor paper

Erika Shallcross uses alternative printing methods and repurposed materials to add a creative twist to her photographs.

7"x10"

My work describes human systems, networks of beliefs, blood ties and stories that keep communities together. In looking at both small daily habits and momentous rituals, both old and new, I express the commonalities in our lived experiences across history and cultures. Controlled, repetitive patterns take on meaning as symbols of particular daily occurrences, food ingredients, cosmic elements or personal memories. My process is rooted in traditional craft and allows me to preserve my connection to ancestral making while expanding the dialogue of traditional and contemporary art.

Oil on wood

24 x 18 inches

Desirée Alvarez is a painter and poet who explores secret connections between plants, animals, and humans through a wide spectrum that includes painting, drawing, installation, and video. Inspired by her rural childhood and her ancestral heritage of indigenous Puerto Rico and Mexico, Alvarez engages with the imagination to create mythic scenes and landscapes where magical events occur and transformation is possible.

Description:

Dreamscape navigates the shifting terrain between beauty and unease, where dreams reveal their hidden edges. Lush, woven textures and trailing foliage draw the viewer in with a sense of calm, while the dark, dense center and tangled descending fibers hint at entrapment and the fragments of lingering nightmares. The piece holds the tension between comfort and disquiet, inviting the viewer into a space where dreams are not always what they seem.

Materials:

Reclaimed garments and textiles, knit and woven fabric strips, yarn, synthetic foliage, transparent filament fibers, cotton warp, and wooden dowel.

Dimensions:

46 x 19 x 5

My work begins with materials and textiles that hold personal histories, carrying the traces of touch, use, and time. Through a process of deconstruction and reweaving, I translate these materials into sculptural wall hangings that honor both the intimacy of memory and the possibility of its transformation. I approach each piece as a collaboration with the cloth and the material itself, letting its textures, flaws, and surprises guide the emerging form. For Dreamscape, I started with dreams of childhood, outgrown garments, which morphed, as dreams do, into a landscape where things are not quite what they seem. Repurposing textiles and household plastics, this piece reflects the ongoing remaking of personal history and dreams.