Close-up fragment of the past.
Hidden Art by my dad Jose Larraga is a narrative art book to get lost in, a journey into a lost past that is a collection of hidden drawings, writings, memories, and stories.
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but what if that picture was kept hidden? Hidden behind the walls of nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Hidden Art showcases one-of-a-kind art drawn by one-of-a-kind seniors remembering the positive and negative experiences from their past. This immediately becomes Art that nobody else in the world has ever seen.
Hidden Art taps into the experiences and wisdom of seniors who have lived long to have "seen it all." Seniors know how to celebrate victories as well as recover from disappointments. Yet, they know better than anyone else that nothing is permanent and have enough wisdom to tell you how important love and humor are to a well-lived life.
Part of preserving the past is also preserving the legacy and story of those who came before us. By the time people reach a certain age, they've accumulated enough life experience to have plenty of stories to tell about life "back in their day." Because as we get older, our synapses begin to falter and weaken, affecting the ease with which we can retrieve memories. Eventually, those memories fade away, can no longer be recovered, and die with our loved ones. Inspired by real-life events, Hidden Art showcases the elder's memories, history, stories, writings, and dreams and introduces them to the world so they live on forever.
Art is the best way to preserve history and share memories. Hidden Art helps the elder living in nursing homes, memory care, and assisted living facilities to make their dreams come true by featuring their abstracted memories to live through their works of Art. Hidden Art encourages elderly adults to share their stories by incorporating Art.
With the difficulties of seniors adapting to and living in a world that's changing around them from the one they grew up and thrived in, painting has provided a great benefit. By tapping into their subconscious and using Art to put their memories onto a canvas, they can have their memories live on forever.
Dedicated to all seniors who have ever felt hidden.
:)
