Sandra Vivas On Lights, Cameras, Motion! | Overcoming the Pitfalls of Progress and Sharing
Everything under the benevolent sun has to start somewhere. A baby does not simply become a child overnight, nor an adult. It’s all part of a unique process. For each person, project or passion, the process remains unlike any other. Just as a caterpillar must engage with an intrepid journey to metamorphosis, Video and Performance Artist Sandra Vivas shares her journey with her contemporary work; stop motion.
Native to Venezuela, Sandra’s heart remains tethered to the island she now calls home. She has earned a BFA and MFA. Sandra works with various media including drawing, video, and live performances. Sandra has been living in Dominica since 2008 with her family.
A year following the ghastly effects of Hurricane Maria, Sandra felt totally called toward the intricate art of stop-motion. The animated film technique is one where objects are physically manipulated in small increments and are individually photographed to show motion. As if she were destined, she fell deeply in love with her newfound passion and began to further nurture her artistic skills. “I realised I wanted to work in stop motion animation; a friend mentioned an app and I started right away” With passion burning lustrously, Sandra began with only her phone and her creative ambitions. Sandra had the idea to share her experience of the hurricane through a stop-motion film. She managed to create her art with the things she had access to; clay, charcoal, and magazine cut-outs. All of these simple efficient items played instrumental roles in the startup of Sandra’s expedition. She admired the idea of using these simple tools to aid in her expression. Despite not employing ‘professional’ tools, she was able to effectively lay down her ideas in a manner that she felt most happy with.
One of Sandra’s stop motion projects
By the end of 2019, Sandra became sure and actively decided to pursue stop-motion. In order to do so, she needed space. She travelled to a friend’s studio in Barbados where she began to experiment with her ideas. Over the course of ten consecutive days, Sandra made progress until the artist’s bane materialised on day five. Art-block descended upon Sandra like the sudden torrential rainfalls of our land. She admitted that she felt like she’d hit a wall. Immediately, she reached for advice from a friend and her advisor decided on her diagnosis. They asked Sandra if she had a script. She acknowledged that she did not, that scripts were in particular a daunting task.
Ploughing through the art block with fervour, she created a lengthy sequence and filmed it with little to no retakes. Once more, Sandra’s ingenuity shone through when she managed to DIY her project. To help with lighting, she bought inexpensive lamps. She even used a skateboard as a slider to move the drawing along her phone which sat in a fixed position. The entire process took about six hours and by the end, Sandra had created something she was satisfied with. At this point, she was taking broadened steps, no longer creeping along with curious interest. These steps that she made, solidified in the building of her own studio here in Trafalgar, Dominica.
Though Sandra’s innovation was persistent, she decided that she needed to invest in better equipment after speaking to one of her friends in the film industry. She bought a professional camera and had to self-learn a lot of its mechanisms. Then, she reached out to another friend for help with animation. She was then advised to not limit herself to cheap software. And again, Sandra invested in editing software and learned its functions. With learning and controlling all of these aspects of production, Sandra felt a bit overwhelmed. “I am the producer, the director- there are people who do only the background and people who do only the puppets, the model of the houses, it’s usually a collaborative thing but I’m doing it all” Though proud of how far she’s come, Sandra still wonders if she could be doing much more. “I’ve been working on this for so long, I don’t know if I should feel proud or embarrassed.”
Sample of one of Sandra’s stop motion projects
“Great things take time,” the interviewer reassured the artist. And with that, Sandra expressed her admiration for the craft and her ability to unite all of her artistic passions into these projects. “My love for drawing, performance, acting, illustrating, directing, imagining and making it come through” By accident, she fell in love with the art of producing, writing, drawing, filming, editing, and performing.
There is a quelled uncertainty which lies behind the eyes of every artist, and for Sandra, it is no different. Whenever an artist puts out very personal work about them and their experiences, there may be doubt, fear, and even a sense of anxiety. And sometimes, this fear can hold back the potential of the artist. You wonder if your work will be well received, and will it be a success? What if they don’t like it? There’s always a risk. We can indeed be our worst critics more often than not. But consider conquering the tasks one at a time, reaching for help when you need it, doing what you love, free in your element. Allow that love and support to be transferred throughout the process and bit by bit, you’ll be able to get rid of or curb that fear of sharing. Following your passion without questioning it can be immensely rewarding.
When sharing our stories and progress as artists, it becomes inspiring to others with their crafts. Sparking motivation and hope in the hearts of those who deserve the confidence. This is what Sandra hopes to accomplish; that sharing her experiences will give others hope and the ability to overcome that fear of self-doubt.
Currently, Sandra knows how long the stop motion film is going to be and is working on the preproduction. In collaboration with a WAA artist, Jeane, Sandra hopes to start filming in October. The passion project on Hurricane Maria seeks to bring to light triumph over trauma for Sandra and all those who endured the brutality of that night and those months in its wake. It also highlights climate change and its effects. She currently resides in Trafalgar with her family and is an active member of WAA.
More from the Artist!:
Website: sandravivas.com
Instagram: @sandravivasart
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/sandrartevivas/videos?disable_polymer=1
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sandra.vivas.127
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sandra-vivas-2082b628/
