GROW SLOW ♡ a collection of second-hand shirts sourced and painted by me, in Chicago with love.
PLAY/PAUSE WITH KEYBOARD COMMANDS)
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SHIRT DESIGN + PRODUCTION, ART DIRECTION, CASTING,
GRAPHIC DESIGN + ILLUSTRATIONS, PRODUCT
PHOTOS and IMAGE TREATMENT ... CRYSTAL ZAPATA
♡
SUPER 8 VIDEO + DANCER PHOTOS ... shot by ... ALEXA VISCIUS
TAP DANCERS ... CASE PRIME and CALEB JACKSON
GRAPHIC DESIGN + ILLUSTRATIONS, PRODUCT
PHOTOS and IMAGE TREATMENT ... CRYSTAL ZAPATA
♡
SUPER 8 VIDEO + DANCER PHOTOS ... shot by ... ALEXA VISCIUS
TAP DANCERS ... CASE PRIME and CALEB JACKSON



Leonard Koren wrote that “the truth comes from the observation of nature.”
Flowers are miracles. In 2021 I made some simple paper cutouts one afternoon for FISK’s artist print series ‘Every Shape is a Flower.’ I loved the resulting image, and soon after creating the original cutout, I had the idea to print the flower on a button down. I decided to go the thrift store to pick up a couple of shirts to experiment with.

I was still using a spare bedroom in my apartment as a studio, and didn’t exactly have much space to work with. The process was messy and time consuming, but I was obsessed, and wanted to pursue the project more intentionally. It ended up taking shape over the course of three years. I spent some of that time attempting to streamline a faster production process. I was humbled to learn that working slowly was the only way.
I eventually moved into a larger studio outside of my apartment and had more space to spread out. This didn’t affect the speed in which I was able to work. One shirt took one day to make. Sometimes longer. I continued to source from thrift stores when I was able to ride my bike around the city. Sometimes I’d go to a store and find nothing. Sometimes I’d get lucky and find a shirt without blemishes. I’d take it back to my studio, remove the buttons, prepare the shirt for painting, and then hand paint the flower over the front with a stencil. It was certainly not a science, and I often made errors. It was an unavoidable part of the process, and was essential.
This practice made me appreciate the labor required to produce any one garment, an idea which can feel abstract because it’s so far removed from how things are marketed and sold to us. I learned how to sew a shirt while i was in college. It required around 20 pieces of fabric. Sewing a shirt is a very technical process. In fact, constructing all clothing is. This project brought me closer to that truth. It was an exercise in being around people’s discarded things, my relationship to consumption, and reevaluating the ways in which I practice it. Finding the desire to breathe new life into found garments, experimenting my way though translating a system of beliefs into a lifestyle, and tending to the garden of my creative practice.
I wanted to incorporate my love for all of the disciplines that inspire me into a singular project – dance, image making, illustration, graphic design, art direction. After shooting the video with the tap dancers and Alexa, I understood that making things for fun, doing projects simply because you want to, is important, and one way to find meaning in life.
I eventually moved into a larger studio outside of my apartment and had more space to spread out. This didn’t affect the speed in which I was able to work. One shirt took one day to make. Sometimes longer. I continued to source from thrift stores when I was able to ride my bike around the city. Sometimes I’d go to a store and find nothing. Sometimes I’d get lucky and find a shirt without blemishes. I’d take it back to my studio, remove the buttons, prepare the shirt for painting, and then hand paint the flower over the front with a stencil. It was certainly not a science, and I often made errors. It was an unavoidable part of the process, and was essential.
This practice made me appreciate the labor required to produce any one garment, an idea which can feel abstract because it’s so far removed from how things are marketed and sold to us. I learned how to sew a shirt while i was in college. It required around 20 pieces of fabric. Sewing a shirt is a very technical process. In fact, constructing all clothing is. This project brought me closer to that truth. It was an exercise in being around people’s discarded things, my relationship to consumption, and reevaluating the ways in which I practice it. Finding the desire to breathe new life into found garments, experimenting my way though translating a system of beliefs into a lifestyle, and tending to the garden of my creative practice.
I wanted to incorporate my love for all of the disciplines that inspire me into a singular project – dance, image making, illustration, graphic design, art direction. After shooting the video with the tap dancers and Alexa, I understood that making things for fun, doing projects simply because you want to, is important, and one way to find meaning in life.





The first shirt I made photographed with a chair that I built in collage and one of my paper weavings.
I love that all of these things can exist harmoniously:

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