Rafa
A handmade artist’s book that explores how the memory of loved ones endures through objects, images, and everyday symbols. Rooted in personal family stories, Rafa reflects on grief, remembrance, and the quiet persistence of presence after loss.



The past, still present
Rafa is a personal meditation on death, memory, and how those we lose continue to live on in the everyday. Inspired by my mom’s belief that a blue jay in our backyard was her late mother visiting, the book draws from the emotional language of ofrendas in Día de los Muertos and builds a quiet space for reflection. The book’s dual narrative invites the reader to move between past and present, connecting family portraits with the seemingly ordinary things—trees, animals, songs—that keep their memory alive. Through sequence, structure, and poetic fragments, Rafa seeks to gently guide the reader through the rhythms of mourning and the quiet beauty of continuity.







Duality, bound
The book is constructed using a gatefold structure, chosen for its ability to open like a doorway—symbolizing both invitation and duality. The inside left side represents the past, featuring portraits and names of family members who have passed. The inside right side represents the present and future, displaying images of objects, creatures, and moments through which their memory still speaks. The left outer pages work as a seasonal flipbook, showing a tree cycling through the seasons—a metaphor for time, loss, and renewal. On the right outer pages, a whimsical flipbook-style drawing shows two stick figures dancing across musical chord sheets—an act of playful resilience and moving forward through memory. The entire book is bound using Japanese stab binding, emphasizing craftsmanship, ritual, and permanence.