AMBruno Artists
Manya Doñaque

Books: I am interested in books as a medium to communicate ideas. Sometimes I employ images, sometimes words, sometimes both, and I always take careful consideration of the narrative aspects inherent in book works.

I am a multimedia artist and I have an open approach to both traditional and contemporary processes. The idea will always dictate the process, typeface, colour, format, sequence and size of books, and the edition size of the books that I produce.

My motivations for making books and my intentions are a response to the world and the experiences that I have lived, and are often reflections of things that inspire, surprise, but also worry me.

Short films: I am interested in film for different reasons:

as a document:
I am very much interested in video as a recording device, so when I produce a performance I often video it in order to have a record of the piece of work, in a manner of a document.

as a medium:
I am interested in the cinematic, and the experience of producing and witnessing a moving photograph, a transition from photography to film, from still to moving ... For me, making videos is almost like making a visual collage. I often play with time when working on video and include more than one camera/projector at one time, as well as with editing.

finding myself is a combination between performance and video; it started as a performance, but because of its ephemeral quality, I thought it would be interesting to keep a video record of it. This performance/video deals with identity issues; I prepared some objects to wear in this performance/video, such as a mask, a skirt and gloves. All these objects have mirror elements on them. This piece is not about the reflection of my image, but about things that reflect on me and bounce back.

Moths is very much concerned with issues surrounding the night: the attraction to light, night life, the metamorphosis that occurs to moths, their short existence, the universe, the cosmos. I captured some of these mysterious and intriguing aspects in this piece of work.

Cycle highlights my interest in the elements, fire being one of the ones that is most important to me because of its alchemical qualities of transmuting matter from one state to the next one. I am also very interested in death and cremation; in the past I have experimented with these issues before, but I had never tried to build something, set fire to it, and record it. Once again the performative aspect of creating and experiencing the work excites me.

Manya Doñaque is an artist and a full-time lecturer in Bradford, UK. She is writing the thesis for her International PhD, for which she has been researching ephemeral art. She is part of a research group at University of Salamanca, Spain. She publishes and gives conferences.

Doñaque's art practice is process-led, often as a response to her experiences, focussing on themes of time and the cycle of nature. She has received awards, prizes and artist residencies; she has exhibited extensively both nationally and internationally, holding solo shows as well as group exhibitions, and her artwork is held in private collections.

circles found solid black is part of AMBruno's Black Circle collection. For this book I have used my camera phone to take the photos whilst walking in my most immediate surroundings ... The structure and sequence of the book was determined by the size of the found black circles and container. Digital Print. Edition of 5.

hair lines is part of AMBruno's Lines collection. I am interested in rituals, performance and the passing of time. For this book I have collected in the manner of a diary, a diary of my ageing process in the form of organic lines ... the remains in the sink after brushing my hair every morning for the period of a week from Sunday 2nd June till Saturday 8th June 2013. The structure of the book is an octavo (A4 page folded eight times) and the sequence of the images relate to the dates of the recollections of the lines. I have used photography and digital print processes in the production of the book. Edition of 5.

Raabenstein #16 accidental audiovisual book is part of AMBruno's 16 collection. When the title 16 was proposed to me I had no idea how to respond, so after typing the title on the internet I came up with this 'Raabenstein # 16' wave sound. At the time I was reading a book You'll Never Know - Drawing and Random Interference by Jeni Walwin and Henry Krokatsis. I was very interested in a particular quote: When I wrote the 'Imaginary Landscapes' for twelve radios, it was not for the purpose of shock or as a joke but rather to increase the unpredictability already inherent in the situation through the tossing of coins. Chance, to be precise, is a leap, provides a leap out of reach of one's own grasp of oneself. Once done, forgotten. - John Cage. A few weeks after that I attended a lecture and I was given an A4-size music paper so I have combined all these random elements to produce an accidental and experimental multimedia visual wave sound bookwork. Mixed Media and CD. Edition of 20.

48 Residents is part of AMBruno's One-Fold Books collection. In this book I focused on issues arising out of my work at a nursing home for elderly people. The work is concerned with the bodily traces that remain in the materials and machines that are part of the everyday life in this place. Occasionally I would go to work and a resident's name would have been crossed off the list because they have died. I feel that, in a way, the memory of those people is being kept alive by using traces of their existence in my work. As I wash, fold and iron, I experience a caring relationship with these people who are quietly waiting. Digital Print. Edition of 20.

ritual in the woods is a combination of live art (performance and video) and it consists of a ritual that took place in the woods near where I live; this piece is part of my recent research in the relationship between the body / the space, and the performative aspects involved in the making of art artefacts, and a piece in its own right.