The Special Collections & Archives of the University of Kent in UK have created an archive collection that records the experiences of people in relation to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. A copy of my essay Lost Prints will be catalogued and preserved alongside their other archive collections and it will be made accessible to others in their reading room, contributing to research and engaging people with this important part of history.

“LOST PRINTS
Author: Gaby Berglund Cárdenas

Rebecca Solnit captures beautifully in a Field Guide to Getting Lost the difference between losing something and losing one self: “Lost really has two disparate meanings. Losing things is about the familiar falling away, getting lost is about the unfamiliar appearing. There are objects and people that disappear from your sight or knowledge or possession; you lose a bracelet, a friend, the key. You still know where you are. Everything is familiar except that there is one item less, one missing element. Or you get lost, in which case the world has become larger than your knowledge of it. Either way, there is a loss of control.”

But what is the sentiment when an artist loses a sketchbook, a manus or an original artwork? How does the artist move on?

In 2014 I was living in Busan, South Korea. At the time, I made a series of eight monotypes exploring uncertainty, the fragility of life and the perpetual human search for knowing our origin and who we are. These unique prints were meant to be shown as a collective but, due to lack of space, they weren’t displayed during an invitational solo exhibition I had at the Judith Rae Salomon Gallery in Youngstown State University, Youngstown, Ohio, USA in the autumn of 2018.

In the summer of 2019 I moved with my family back to Sweden, from Houston, Texas after a period of 10 years living as an expatriate in South Korea and the USA. During that time I earned a Master’s in Fine Arts and I developed a career as an multidisciplinary artist actively exhibiting internationally.

In 2019, my son, William Cárdenas Berglund, a young multiinstrumentalist and composer born in 2001, graduated from high school in the USA and left our home to move to York and pursue a bachelor in International Relations at York University.

During the relocation some of our wedding presents and art portfolios were stolen, including the eight monotypes I had made in South Korea. The Lost Prints were monotypes and the process involves drawing and painting wet oils directly onto a printing plate. In more traditional printing techniques such as woodcuts or etchings the image is permanently marked onto the plate, ready for several re-inkings and re-printings. With a monotype, however, we get only one chance to make a print, there is no room for mistake because once we have transferred our hand-manipulated ink to the paper from the plate, we basically have to start from scratch with new ink and a new image drawn into it. A monotype leaves an emotional trace of its passage because the medium (in this case oil painting) is worked by hand. The manual work, the resistance to the mechanical present of an industrial and digital age gives the monotypes a conservative and nostalgic feeling.

Some say that the lockdown has changed us forever. Reflecting over the hundreds of thousands of lives lost due to the COVID-19 virus, I feel superfluous to write about anything else, but I choose to write about the Lost Prints as a strategy of the creative mind to keep its sanity. I had planned a solo exhibition at Grafik i Väst Gallery in Gothenburg, Sweden during May 2020, however it was postponed until March 2023 due to the pandemic. Ironically, the exhibition theme was “Life While You Wait”, a series of woodcut prints and textile installations exploring uncertainty. At some point, I entertained the thought of making an artist’s book out of the lost monotypes and to exhibit the book at Grafik i Väst Gallery.

During the pandemic lockdown, my son, William, was in the UK composing several pieces for a music album. He wrote a poem entitled Lost Prints inspired by my story and photos of the prints. The poem has become a pivotal part of a video exhibition that I plan to release online to compensate for the postponed exhibition in Gothenburg.

As an artist, William understands the sentiment of losing one’s original work, whether a visual or a written piece. In the poem, he refers to the prints as “a child of metal and ink”.’ and ends the poem with the words “until found, present, here today”. With this poem, William has given a new life to the lost child: the set of prints. This transformation or reincarnation, from a visual piece of art to the subject of inspiration for a poem, gives both artist and poet a sense of transcendence. It reminds us of our perpetual becoming. It reminds us of Plato’s dialogue, Meno, where he asks Socrates, ‘whether virtue can be taught.’ to which Socrates replies that he does not as yet know what virtue is, and has never known anyone who did. It also brings us to the question of how we know who we are if we are eternally transforming and changing.

Facing change and unpredictability in our daily lives is one of the main causes of human suffering and anxiety. The Daoists, one of the two great indigenous philosophical traditions of China dating back to c.100s B.C.E. emphasized the importance of surrendering to the unknown in order to achieve balance or groundness, which Socrates calls magnanimity, a good of the soul. As important as surrendering is letting go of attachments to material things or emotions, because, according to The Daoists and Buddhists, that is one of the main causes of our suffering.

This realization brings a new perspective and contributes to moving forward. The lost prints on paper have transformed into an eternal bedsheet of text and poetry that will forever exist in the digital cloud. The child of ink and metal became a poem and a new form of communication between mother and son, a son who had recently left his nest to become independent.

Someone said that inspiration comes from “I don’t know” and that surrendering to those three humble words can open the door to a world of possibilities. In the creative process, just like in life, we encounter uncertainty, we never know what he final artwork will look like, we never know what the child will become.

LOST PRINTS
by William Cárdenas Berglund

A child of metal and ink,
Nurtured by brush and milk,
Transcendent of the physical state,

From womb to cradle, cradle to coffin,
Mind to desk, desk to an office,
Only worthy of its name,

Beaks and the beholder,
Meant to pluck the tasteful shoulders,
Off the children, only ever conceived,

It was lost in the dark,
Neglecting the mother of a spark,
Until found, present, here today.’”

Ther video mentioned on the essay has been previously shared on Instagram.

“Mindfulness and meditation are often discussed in relation to mental health; many have found such techniques help to manage anxiety and depression. Cárdenas lived in South Korea whilst studying for a Masters in Fine Arts; whilst she was there she explored Buddhism and the role meditation has within the religion. For Cárdenas writing the phrase “no mind” became a way to quiet her brain and body. This piece is composed of an antique spool, around which Nepalese paper is wrapped; holding the object also makes you aware of the fragility of the work. Today Cárdenas lives in Sweden; you can find more of her works here.”

“Cumulatively these books help to show not only the diversity of mental health but also the strength of responses to it. Recording and making work in response to periods of mental illness can, for some, be an act of healing in itself. The books in Prescriptions also serve to challenge and improve relationships between treatment-giver and treatment-receiver; however they also contribute to opening up dialogue and removing stigma around lived experiences. They can inspire responses and new approaches to mental health – whether with you to create your own art or with generating empathy and understanding on any scale, be it individual or wider.”

Click here to read the full blog post of May 21st, 2020 published during Mental Health Awareness Week by the Special Collections and Archives at the University of Kent, UK.

Due to the pandemic my exhibition “Life While You Wait” at Grafik i Väst, initially planned for May 2020, has been postponed to March 2021. Please follow the gallery on social media and their alternative online events. I continue to create, work on a couple of new series about meditations and share my creative process through social media (Instagram and Facebook). I recently published a distance collaboration with my son and I am participating in a Youtube exhibition about art in the corona era. Thank you for your continuous support!

As with any curated exhibition, what the curators selected and how they selected it is often only revealed either through their catalog writings or talks they give. Because they are not often in the gallery when most viewers are, it is up to the viewers to come to their own conclusions about the work on display.
The viewers are also frequently in the dark about what the artist has to say about where they are coming from, where they hope to go, and how they are getting there.
With this in mind, the curators Chris Perry and Alice Walsh asked the artists of Freed Formats: The Book Reconsidered (March-September 2019, New York, Connecticut) to respond to a scripted list of questions, the answers were then recorded, and the resulting audio files are here for the viewer to listen to, either while they are in the gallery, or later at their leisure.
Select the artist file and click on the small arrow on the left to hear what the artist has to say.

“The Biblical story is just as contemporary as it is ancient. Communication is more important now than ever and the fascination of languages and the diverse peoples who speak them can be a life-long passion.

 We live today in an era of technological dominance and mass media, whose is bigger, better, makes more money. World population increases faster than a colony of rabbits, buildings grow higher, closer together, squeezing out the green. There is an increasingly larger gap between the wealthy and the average. The language behind our technology, underlying our cars, our spaceships, our televisions, our skyscrapers is becoming English. The theme of Towers and a single language is not farfetched.“

“The story of the Tower of Babel is well known in most cultures. It is not only a story out of Genesis, the first Book of the Hebrew Bible, it is also an allegory of the human condition. It is particularly interesting to those who deal with language, letters and writing.
 
The concept of an exhibit with the theme “The Tower of Babel” is especially appropriate following  the founding of the European Union. Suddenly packaging is covered with information in not just 2 or 3 languages as previously, but in 20 or 25 languages. From all countries of the world: Europe, Asia, South America. It was a cornucopia of scripts and languages. Rather than throw away the cardboard and plastic packaging, it could make an interesting artist’s book.
 
In 2015 a group of artists founded VIS – Venetiae Incipit Scriptorium and organised courses, activities and exhibits. After the international exhibit “VOLUMEN ET ROTULUS” The Tower of Babel was proposed to follow the same guidelines. The concept of multiple languages written in multiple scripts could appeal to a broader range of artists: However, the exhibit is open not only to lettering artists, but also calligraphers, painters, sculpters, book artists, printers and even philosophers; and not only to VIS members but to anyone wishing to participate. The choice of text is up to the artists and all forms of artistic expression and in any language are welcome.
 
The Biblical story is just as contemporary as it is ancient. Communication is more important now than ever and the fascination of languages and the diverse peoples who speak them can be a life-long passion.
 
We live today in an era of technological dominance and mass media, whose is bigger, better, makes more money. World population increases faster than a colony of rabbits, buildings grow higher, closer together, squeezing out the green. There is an increasingly larger gap between the wealthy and the average. The language behind our technology, underlying our cars, our spaceships, our televisions, our skyscrapers is becoming English. The theme of Towers and a single language is not farfetched.
 
Towers as art is exciting; languages maintain our diversity, exhibits keep us aware of what is important. It is our way of saying, let diversity live, let differences survive, let us struggle to understand. As one artist put it: The show is very beautiful. 45 artists from around the world, all different from one another: book artists, textile artists, engravers, calligraphers, art quilt , it is all beautiful and all works together in harmony.
 
As an added quality to the show, a communal tower is being constructed. Everyone, from toddlers to great-grandparents, artist or not, can make a paper brick which folds up and is then reconstructed to build the tower during the show.“

Location: Gallery ARTI 3160, San Marco 3160, Salizada Malipiero, 30124 Venezia, Italia. Exhibition Period: Jan. 30 – Feb. 15, 2020. Curator: Kathy Frate incipit@venetiaescriptorium.it