Desire Paths Through Salt Water by the Second Generation, part 1 & 2
2026
Handmade watermarked Thai kozo, water from the Atlantic Ocean
20 x 25 inches
*created in a floating mould on the surface of the Atlantic Ocean when the tide is coming in
Every morning it would begin the same.
I would carry buckets of pulp down the stairs and through the woods when the sunlight was still new. After a few days, my feet had grown accustomed to the squish of the wet mossy earth and the slippery crags, so that each moment of balance or sidestep also had its place in the pour.
I would go at low tide, when the receding Atlantic seemed still.
First, a few tentative steps into the shallows to fill an empty bucket. It would be brought back to shore where it could be distributed into the other containers of beaten and pigmented kozo. I would crouch and mix them by hand, my forearm submerged in formation aid, fiber, and saltwater, turning it over itself until it was a homogenous ooze of the right feel and sound. I’d stand, bucket in one hand and paper mould in the other, and wade back out. Gently, I’d kiss the mould onto the water’s surface. With another hand, I’d pour the contents of the bucket. The mould would stay suspended, undeterred, containing both ocean and fiber within the wooden frame. Lightly, I’d use my hand to jog it, attempting to blend the mixture into something boundless. This was a coordination between myself and the fiber and the mould and the water and the current and the seaweed and the fish at my ankles and the crabs hiding behind the rocks and the swirling sand and the wind.
A deep breath. Securely holding each side of the rectangular mould, I’d slowly lift it out of the ocean, holding it midair as the water drained, getting pulled out in ropes on the low breeze. The pulp remained in a thin glistening layer – a light sheen of water reflecting the sun.
Savannah Bustillo • she/her • Albuquerque, New Mexico
Savannah Bustillo (she/her) is a queer, second generation, Colombian-American printmaker, bookmaker, and papermaker from Albuquerque, New Mexico. She combines making and anthropological investigation to explore spaces in the margins – where identities not easily reconciled are placed. She received a BFA from Washington University in St. Louis, and is completing her MA/MFA at the University of Iowa in printmaking. Her work is held in over 40 collections throughout the US, including Harvard University, Yale University, UCLA, and the Walker Art Center.
