A Very Long Night/La Noche Más Larga-Your Ideal End, 2012-17

Proyecto 'Ace, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Using graphite drawings, large-scale digital prints, and animation, the installation contains an array of domestic imagery, allusions to play and role-playing, children’s drawings and figures that come to life, all interconnected as a series of non-linear events. The viewer moves through the space, figuratively a home, and the animation takes them into "other worlds" where the strangest things happen. The installation emphasizes the tension between psychological and physical space while highlighting the vulnerability of the children and the mysterious presence of menacing adults.

The imagery was originally inspired by my illustrations for a book written by Juan Velasco Moreno, titled The Massacre Of The Dreamers/La Masacre De Los Soñadores (Polibea Press, Madrid: 2010), which tells the story of two children who are victims of abuse. While playing make-believe games of “Cowboys and Indians,” the children allude to an adult named “Buffalo Bill,” who visits them at night and plays with them, but who actually is a sexual predator.

Support for this work was provided by a Rocket Grants project award, a program of the Charlotte Street Foundation and the University of Kansas Spencer Museum of Art. Funding is provided by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. Additional support has been provided by the Lighton International Artist Exchange program, a program of the Kansas City Artist Coalition, and The Visual Art Department, The Shimomura Fund, The School of the Arts, The General Research Fund, and the Office of International Programs at the University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS.

Kansas City Artist Coalition, Kansas City, MO

Multiple media: graphite, digital prints, animation, sound.

Dimensions: variable, room size.

Photo credit: Matthew Gonzales

Living Arts, Tulsa, OK

Proyecto 'Ace, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Photo credit: Adriana Moracci

10:27 min//color//sound//animation, 2017.

A Very Long Night/La Noche Más Larga - Your Ideal End is an experimental animation about physical, sexual and psychological abuse. The animation is inspired by my research around this topic, as well as live testimonials of adult survivors. As I began to storyboard the scenes of the animation, I wondered how the story could end and felt compelled to create an opportunity for academic and community engagement. With the support of a Rocket Grant, I created an interdisciplinary partnership between the Visual Art Department and the Psychology Department at the University of Kansas (Lawrence, KS). As a result, Bibliotherapist Dr. Biri Rottenberg and I designed a series of workshops integrating creative tools and therapeutic processes geared toward therapists in training—namely KU clinical students—and also for the staff at The Willow Domestic Violence Center (Lawrence, KS), who work directly with trauma survivors. After several presentations and many conversations, workshop participants contributed ideas which inspired themes of the animation. With their permission, I incorporated different suggestions, based on personal experiences or imagined scenarios of what they considered to be an ideal end to the story. Thus, the final animation is the result of collective voices and the collective imaginary, where various individuals, working closely in this arena, contributed their ideas for possible paths to healing such a traumatic experience. The animation has been an Official Selection at the Depth of Field International Film Festival (DOFIFF) 2018 and has received an Award of Excellence in the category of Animation.

ORIGINAL ARTWORK, STORYBOARD AND DIRECTION:
María Velasco

PRODUCED BY:
María Velasco

ANIMATION:
Matthew Gonzales
Katie Fessler
Brian Hawkins
Ryan Benedick

EDITING:
Matthew Gonzales

SOUND ENGINEER:
Shinning Mountain Adams

STRINGS:
Jennifer Robinson