Why Create?

the overview

Role

FOUNDER
artist

Variables

Art
brand strategy
brand design
Naming
Activism

Background

The beginning of 2020 brought the global outbreak of the COVID-19 virus, an ensuing lockdown of humanity, and an immesurably deep desire to evaluate my relationship with existence. As a multi-disciplinary designer, artist, printmaker, and strategist, my desire was to refocus my process and create a refresehed artistic vision and practice for self-initiated projects.

The Economics of Violence

With a background in economics and mathematics, I am deeply fascinated by how people interact, and the conflict that arises from human relationships. Refocusing my own values and vision for humanity allowed me to align my creative output with what I believe is the single most important problem to solve, promoting a deeper awareness of the social and economic factors that develop a more peaceful society. According to The Institute for Economics & Peace, the economic impact of violence to the global economy was $14.76 trillion in 2017.

silence-1 | collage, acrylic & chalk on canvas

the process is the solution

Inputs to Outputs

The Werkshop emphasizes assemblage and deconstruction as organizing principles for both physical and metaphorical discovery, bringing together different forms of artistic expression into a creative pedagogical loop to promote peaceful coexistence through critical play.

What's In A Name?

Finding the universal in the personal.

The Werkshop takes it's name from creating new meaning from the past. My output is informed by the accumulation of experiences in my life, including my Costa Rican and German heritage.

Sondar + Werk = Sondwerk

Sondar (Spanish)
Transitive Verb
—To probe
—To sound

Werk (German)
Noun
—Factory
—Output

To Seek, To Sound

This is Sondwerk

The Sondwerk mission is grounded in a call-response approach to communication theory. I believe our world is intersubjective, that my work doesn’t exist in a vacuum, and that if we have an ability to respond, then we have a duty to help create positive cultural value in society.

Historical references, pop culture, and ideas from physics, psychology, mathematics, music, and design are critically deconstructed to create new meanings and conversations that question the human condition.

To plumb your mind for answers, and sound them out as best you can—inputs to outputs, darkness to light. My creative process is grounded in the relationship between work and play, theory and application, pupil and teacher, you and me, us and them. To seek, then sound. This is Sondwerk.

USPS 4 Eva

60-Second Heart Sutra

The Manifesto For Good Werk

As philosophies go, it’s pretty simple. Be relentlessly curious, have heart in what you do, and strive to create positive cultural value.

The Sondwerk Manifesto For Good Werk is a philosophy for building positive cultural value in society. It is the starting place for every project I take on, and a belief that value exists outside the objectification of desire.

View Manifesto →

The Initiative

The Sondwerk Initiative For Peace

Well, because some people just can't peace good.

All for one, and one for all. The Sondwerk Initiative For Peace (The Initiative) pledges to give 1 dollar for every 3 dollars made by Sondwerk back to the community to help those werking hard to promote peaceful human coexistence. Because peace only works when you ‘do the werk’.