TWOXISM by Claudia Serea & Maria Haro
What began as a collaboration project between two life-long friends—Maria Haro, a visual artist, and Claudia Serea, a poet—resulted in a refreshing lyricism of urban photography and poetry. Twoxism is a work that finds beauty in unexpected places and sees the mundane with redemptive eyes. A city love story, tender and gritty at the same time, Twoxism, an invented word for all things two, is about love, life, friendship, and relationships.
I was fortunate to see Twoxism in its earliest form when Maria and Claudia came to me with an idea for an exhibit in our office. What started as a way to show off the talent of two team members turned into an imaginative, fresh, and inspiring look at the world around us. I’m also proud that many of those pieces have found their way into this collection. And I’m very proud of these two amazing artists.
—Rich Levy, Chief Creative Officer, FCB Health Worldwide
In Twoxism, Claudia Serea and Maria Haro have kindled the rarest of fires: when two artists meet halfway and create something that indubitably would have been impossible to create alone. From snow to cement to subway platform to gutter, the flickering lights of the city reveal the hidden treasures that surround us and yet we never see. We walk speedily with blinders on through our lives and miss the essence of what we truly seek: companionship. Everywhere around us it is present, from the cigarette butts to the telephone booths to the blizzard-frosted windshield wipers. And yet, somehow, its beauty escapes us. Maria and Claudia have captured and bottled this beauty in the most delightful and unexpected way. It is said there is nothing new, and yet we are treated to the most fascinating of notions: everything is new and everything is old. It's just a matter of perspective. As the poem says, "Crooked, aligned,/will we still be together/in another subway life?" I have to go. I have some poems to read.
—Brian Hallett, photographer, director, visual storyteller • www.brianhallett.com