Tocaya Arts

Art: 'The Book of Violette: La Ballade' by 🎨 Kelly Sinnapah Mary A huge part of my love for art is its ability to transport me to other places I always thought were external to me, only to realize they were within me all along. They were just cloaked by my own limited experience and programming. Some of my favorite pieces of art are works that transport me to my childhood (self). It's almost as if they must first bring me back to a place where anything is possible in order for me to then see the world they wish to present me with. A world that only the eyes of my childhood could truly visualize and trust in entirety. This week, I encourage you to allow yourself to be transported back to forever, meet with your eternal tour guide, and see worlds that your current self is too indoctrinated and wounded to see. To create change, we must first see it in ourselves, then visualize and trust the world waiting to be manifested. And then we paint. Together. Love, Gabbi

There are days when words fail, and you find yourself praying to the silence of the night, to anything out there that will listen, that may bring your heart softness. Even if it be some other version of you. ❤️‍🩹 Sending flowers to the brokenhearted, whose grief finds them in the snares of the night and chooses violence instead of reprieve. Art: Juana DiEgo by 🌺 Ayala - Gabbi

Alright. Let's talk about it. Growing up is disturbing, and it never stops. With each new stage of development, our identity seems to crack us open and reemerge. Sometimes, with joy and anticipation and other times with anguish and trauma. Becoming a new you often feels like the process of losing a tooth. You've seen this tooth every day in the mirror for the past 6 years of your life, and it even helped you chew your favorite candy (begrudgingly). And now, it meets its demise and is to be replaced by an angry imposter that fights its way through your smile. All while you lay its predecessor to rest under your pillow and pray it finds its way home with divine assistance (the tooth fairy). Every day, you feel the urge to show people the empty space where the old parts of you used to reside. You somehow need to acknowledge, "I've changed". It's a badge of honor, but you also see the look of amusement on others' faces when you show it. What's really going...

Do you ever think about how we have all these systems to control, maintain, distract, assist, and destroy humanity? Tiny little systems that make up our reality. But when we begin to hunger for our true selves, we call it "unplugging". And we usually seek out environments on earth where our technological systems cannot function well...in the water, deep into nature, in the skies. It's not just our electronic and wifi systems that begin to fall away. It is also the systems that bind us and tell us they are us. Nature is there with open arms telling us they are the real us. We are the real us. Find time to unplug this week. You don't have to wait until Friday or until your PTO is approved. 🙂🙃 Art: "Unfolding Within" by ✨️Zhanna Tsytsyn - Gabbi

It is Friday. Many of us live in a culture where we must put a price on our life for 260-262+ days out of the year (roughly 71.5% of our year)... and yearn for our beloved Friday. And yes, I mean it when I say that we sell our lives away for the "right" (but repeatedly wrong) price. This is what is happening when we agree to an hourly pay/annual salary to do things that drain our light, make us question our worth, and accept behavior the chisels away at our sanity and health. No amount of pay, recycled titles, or employee discounts will ever be worth your soul. "Happy Friday" has morphed into a blessing we bestow on our colleagues as encouragement and an entrypoint to a mini holiday. "You are here. You made it." It deserves acknowledgment. Don't believe me? We even begin celebrating our freedom on Thursday, or rather "Friday Eve." 😄 Friday originates as a day for the goddess Venus. She rules love, sex, beauty, fertility, and...victory. We do...

  Not every costume we choose in this life is a destructive one. We often dress up in identities to develop our souls and assist others. Yes, strip us down, and we are energy. But the fun part is seeing how widely and deeply that energy can transform into mother, doctor, male, citizen, rebel, nemesis, student, or changemaker. All of this is a giant show with a main plot (humanity) and subplots (our own personal lives). It is interesting seeing people get wildly upset when other characters decide they no longer wish to be the role the cast assigned them. This is because it shows them the safety and security they have found within their role in humanity is not real on a soul level. And it shows that we don't truly know what the plot is. We have systems and beliefs that provide us context, but we do not truly know. How frightening is that? The ensemble cast does not have the authority to dictate a soul. We are all our own directors of how we show up for ourselves and others in our rol...

Art: 'She and her light' by Artist Aykut Aydogdu  Sometimes, we have to get away from ourselves to find ourselves. I see this in two ways. Sometimes, it takes us layering on identities that do not belong to us for us to gain enough rage to throw it all off and find our true selves. And sometimes, it takes us going into a foreign space and getting away from all those environmental signifiers that constantly tell us, "you are this" and "this is what is expected of people who are this", to truly find the truth of who we are. And often, the truth is, we just are. In every beautiful conceivable and inconceivable way. 🔥 - Gabbi

When I saw this piece, I initially felt a menacing feeling inside. I felt like there was an attack/danger to my identity. I then breathed, looked away, and came back to the piece, and immediately, my mind saw the story of Jesus and the devil, right before his crucifixion. Now, let's dig deeper and remove the dogma. I ultimately see mental and emotional warfare between the higher and lower self, with the supporting energy of...love. Reading the artist's intention in their own words (see below), after seeing this story in my head, made the work even more interesting. What story do you see? ✨️ 이 그림은 의식과 무의식, 현실과 환상의 경계에서 흔들리는 인간의 내면을 시각적으로 나타내었다. 형체가 분명하지 않은 유기적인 형태와 흐트러진 색채는 감정의 불확실성과 기억의 파편화를 상징한다. 작품 속 인물들은 마치 꿈속에서 흐릿하게 남아 있는 인상처럼 명확하지 않지만, 감각적으로 존재감을 드러내고 있다. 이러하게 명확한 구획 없이 유동적으로 얽힌 색과 형상은 감각과 이성이 교차하는 순간이다. 마치 막 꿈에서 깨어나 사경을 헤매는 우리의 모습과 같다. 이는 삶이라는 혼란 속에서도 질서를 찾고자 하는 인간의 본능일것이고 끝없는 성장과 변화를 거듭하여 나가고자 하는 의지일것이다. This painting visually represents the human psyche wavering at the ...

'Sedation' by Ebony Sade Acrylic on canvas, 20x16 This is the first piece of artwork I ever purchased on my own (I was gifted art in the past). And I love her so much. I had to pack the piece under a tight deadline, so... I basically mummified it. Mistakes were made. 😆

Recently, I watched the anime film, 'Paprika' directed by Satoshi Kon (rip), based on the novel written by Yasutaka Tsutsui (yes, I am nearly two decades late lol). It inspired thoughts about the power of the subconscious mind and how, in a way, we do share dreams. Not in the sentimental aspect, but in a way, we are influenced by the programming we receive through various forms, whether media or political climate. These dreams (or delusions of "reality") can intentionally and unintentionally influence how we perceive ourselves, others, and our experiences. This can go even deeper when we ask ourselves, what is true reality? We can absolutely lose ourselves or aspects of ourselves in these dream states. I think it is important to periodically challenge what we believe, especially when it makes something in you feel separate from yourself and/or others in a destructive way.  - Gabbi

📞Welcome to 'Furnishing Life', where things go a bit deeper than your average capitalistic hell. Sometimes what we think we're chasing, is actually chasing us. Tell me, how long can you outrun your destiny? ️ 🌀🌟This story was inspired by artist Gloria Olarte's piece, 'Diamond of Light', textile on canvas, 15.7x15.7 - Gabbi

We made it to another week...another day...another cycle of being and creating who we wish to be and what we wish to see. This piece is called, 'A Rip in SpaceTime', by artist Mark Ross I encourage you to keep letting the light in. Let it engage with your insides, even the dark corners filled with anxiety and sadness. I guarantee you will find that the light you allow in will ignite the light you already possess. Sending love your way. - Gabbi

This beautiful Buddha piece is by artist @julieblue.art inspired by a statue in Changsha, China. I was drawn to the beautiful blue color, which reminds me of the Medicine Buddha (Bhaiṣajyaguru). I woke up today thinking about the invisible ailments that plague us as humans. Often, people are facing pain that is physical, mental, emotional, societal, environmental, economical...human, animal, planet, and completely undetectable to the outside world. Does it make it any less real? Whether we can see it or not, I believe the seeds begin on a soul level. I used to believe that pain's purpose was for us to grow. However, I'm not so sure that's always the case. According to Buddhism, suffering is a part of the human experience. In my present experience, acceptance of this is difficult but can lead to a weird sense of freedom. It's the constant denial and fighting against it that exasperates it. Call a thing a thing, so we can heal. Wishing us all freedom today and every day. ...