Artist Statement

My work explores the visual qualities of the written word through a variety of formats and media, ranging from wall hanging pieces to artist books. In them, my main concern is to inquire into the reading experience and to probe the shared borders between linguistic and visual structures. To accomplish this, I create narratives that attempt to re-contextualize discourse genres by juxtaposing them and visually revealing their rhythms and patterns. Frequently, computer generated typography is combined with traditional printing processes such as letterpress and silk-screen, allowing for an interpenetration of media that exposes language's physical nature.

So Listen Now combines a native Brazilian oral tale on the conquest of fire with text excerpts adapted from everyday genres, such as advertising copy, popular scientific literature, dream accounts, etc. The spatial proximity of these discursive forms invites parallel readings that bring into question the relationship between factual and mythological realities. A series of collages of found type support the main text as it echoes the process in which the verbal content was constructed.

Artist Biography

Cristina de Almeida was born and raised in Rio de Janeiro, Brasil. She received her MFA from the University of Massachusetts and is currently a professor of graphic design at Western Washington University. Her experimental work explores the visual qualities of written language through various printed media.

All images and text copyright the artist. All rights reserved.