BLOOD+SISTER is an ever-expanding collaboration project between painter and custom tattooer Sandi Calistro and photographer Blair Pascal. Each photographic portrait included within the exhibition is hand painted after print, composing a seamless interconnection of two art forms and the synthesis of two individual artist’s visions. The title, The Blood of the Covenant is Thicker Than the Water of the Womb is appropriated from the ancient proverb insinuating that the bond between comrades is stronger than that of family alliances.
BLOOD+SISTER functions as a channel into the process specific to women creating together. At the start resides the collaboration between subject and photographer. The female muse tends to occupy an uneasy and shifting place at the intersection of the body and it’s representation. The photographs in BLOOD+SISTER engage that precarious space between the inherent passive nature of photography and an active representation of the subject. The intimate treatment provided by Calistro’s illustration evokes sentiment at the same time conjures thoughtfulness of the artist’s hand. BLOOD+SISTER is the embodiment of female collaboration.
Photography by: Amanda Tipton.