Kristone Capistrano “Breathe”

Kristone Capistrano
“Breathe”

Kristone writes “A friend of mine posted a short video of her new-born baby on Instagram. The child went from a stern resolute face—trying to fight off drowsiness—to a giant all-encompassing yawn that took my breath away. The video ended with the baby resting with a self-satisfied smile of acceptance. A sort of smug, peaceful expression surrendering to the sleepiness befalling the infant. This drawing is based on a screenshot of this video, capturing the baby mid-yawn.

The initial inspiration on my part was to capture this overwhelming sense of ‘life’ that this babe stood for. After spending weeks trying to select a portrait subject, there I was faced with a person whose utter vulnerability and tenderness truly captured me. There was something about the baby’s sense of ‘life’ or ‘aliveness’ that I wanted to communicate.

I wanted to capture the beauty that I saw from this child, an unspoken language of intimacy we all share. A language that precedes the sort of theorizing that I allude to above. There is a softness and tenderness in a newborn that truly encapsulates the meaning of human life and existence: touch, breath, hope, new life.”