Optimism - (Long Deep)

The Breath Series is an interpretation of breath energies. I have always been aware of my breath - or so I thought - since being introduced to yoga in childhood, maintaining a dedicated practice in my 20s and 30s, and training as a Kundalini yoga teacher. Yet, it wasn't until I experienced a series of transformative events in 2022 that my awareness of holding, constraining, or suspending my breath was heightened, as well as the moments when I intentionally created space for it to flow deep into and out of the intimate spaces of my lungs.

This body of work employs a limited palette of light, medium, and dark values as states of being (empathy, optimism, and expansion) and traditional yogic breaths (cooling, long deep, and fire) while a singular symbol of breath mingles with unique hand-painted breath energies. Although the interpretation of each energy is up to the viewer, I invite you to consider the energies of a baby's breath, a sigh, the breath taken while kissing a lover, a gasp, one's first conscious breath taken upon waking or upon rising to and breaking the surface of a body of water, the flow of a singer's breath and the very last breath we all must take.

From the studio:

Serio Press is proud to present a suite of hand-painted works on paper by Los Angeles based artist Lisa Diane Wedgeworth, and the artist's first application of traditional serigraphy.

Our collaboration with Lisa was an exploration in technique, form, and spirit. Employing mixed media including fountain grass (Pennisetum Setaceum) foraged outside of our Pasadena studio, the artist uses natural materials to depict the stages of human breath.

Painting directly onto large sheets of coventry rag and soaking them with water, each fountain grass painting coexists with a screen printed layer affectionately known as "thick path." Created by painting the separation directly onto film, each step of the process shows the artist's hand at work.