Art for Humanitarian Aid!
Howdy folks!
It has been a while since I’ve written a newsletter and I have a few really awesome announcements. First off, I’m turning 30! I never thought that I would make it this far, and although it hasn’t been easy, I have all of you to thank for supporting my passion project: Troctopus Press.
In celebration of my 30th time around the Sun I have opted to add a new annual mutual aid endeavor that Troctopus Press will support for 1 month each year. This year, I have added 21 discounted old works of art to the shop. All of these works are already framed and ready to hang and are labeled as “Art for Mutual Aid #_” so that they are easily identifiable. 50% of all sales from these items will be donated to World Central Kitchen! In totality, we have the potential to donate $1,775 to help provide meals in response to humanitarian, climate, and community crises. WCK is notably one of the first to the frontlines during disasters and has served more than 145 million meals in Gaza, but are seeking funds to rapidly scale up production to help mitigate the mass starvation in the area. If you don’t want to buy art, please consider donating, as anything helps.
In addition to helping support WCK, I have also decided to donate 10% of all sales from regular items from my shop to Community on Wheels (C.O.W.). Community on Wheels is a mobile mutual aid project that provides essential items & resources to unsheltered & houseless folks in Tucson, AZ. All around the United States, we’ve seen terrible legislation that outlaws sleeping outdoors and criminalizes being poor. C.O.W. has consistently shown up to help these folks in public parks and in public forums, and here’s there link if you’d like to privately donate.
These donation plans will be active until September 30th, 2025 so make haste!
Most of the artwork that is for sale through my Art for Mutual Aid initiative is more than 5 years old and utilizes mixed media techniques. During my undergraduate degree at the University of Nevada, Reno most of my research delved into topics such as childhood development, personality development, and how identity is related to the body. I based my research off of fragmentation and so I would physically draw or paint portraits, then methodically take them apart and piece them back together.
I’ve included several of those pieces in the Art for Mutual Aid Shop, but if you would like to see more and inquire about the sale of a larger piece. You can see more of the work here and shoot me an email: emilandkray@gmail.com to talk about pricing & shipping costs.
After picking apart the body as a vessel for that information, I began to focus that research onto dispossessed objects. Through visiting estate sales and systematically purchasing items on the last day & last hour of each sale, I would simultaneously find objects that projected a value system that resisted a capitalist structure. These items had been sold for cents on the dollar, and yet were held onto by an individual until they passed away. The juxtaposition of these value systems was represented by how I chose to present these images. One as a ghost, and the other as a trompe l’oeil painting in watercolor.
This project is still somewhat ongoing as I wish it to be. So far it has accumulated into over 20 paintings and 20 cyanotypes with 2 exhibitions (one at Groundworks and the other at Cochise Community College) and an accompanying book project. The body of work is titled ‘To Have and To Hold, Until Death Do Us Part’ and in addition to several small scale works, contains quite a few large scale watercolor paintings and cyanotype prints. These are all for sale but not listed on my website, as shipping costs differ greatly from that of the smaller watercolors. You can see the full portfolio along with exhibition gallery photos here.
Thank you all for making this year a special one, and I’ll continue making my way on the great journey of life if you promise to join me. Here’s to doing creative things, facing fears big and small, and books <3
