Espacia Fotiu was playing with a Buddha Board while peddling her art at local fairs when she was struck with the idea for Imagine, Draw, Erase, Repeat.
The children’s book, which debuts in June 2019, contains over 20 laminated pages of Fotiu’s abstract paintings, which she hopes young artists will draw over with their own interpretations.
She tested her prototype on her cousins – ages 5 and 2 – and, at first, she thought they were simply scribbling. Soon, she realized they had found and traced a bunny in her painting that she hadn’t seen before.
Fotiu’s book may be designed for kids, but behind the 22-year-old Ferndale artist’s designs are the all-ages messages that nothing is permanent, and everything can be interpreted in multiple ways.
“I think impermanence is taught just by using the book,” she says. “People grasp so tightly to being one thing, but I feel like I could be anything; I just want to show them that there are other paths.”
She hopes the book will teach children (and adults) to enjoy creating art without worrying about whether or not it will end up on the refrigerator.
This $40 book launches at a release party held 4-8 p.m. Friday, June 14, 2019 at The Red Children’s Art Museum in Detroit. Learn more at Espacia Fotiu’s website.
