Alex Manea 

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     As an artist, I have always been drawn to the tension between the personal and the universal, the fleeting and the permanent. In Last Lines, I confront one of the most intimate and yet profoundly public artifacts of human existence: the suicide note. Specifically, I chose the words left behind by artists or other famous people, whose final acts of self-expression often transcend their personal pain to resonate as haunting, poetic statements.

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     This series consists of works that mimic the form of a notebook page, handmade using a 3D printing pen. By deliberately rejecting mechanical uniformity, I emphasize the fragility and imperfection of these final messages.The use of plastic filament as a medium further underscores the paradox of impermanence and permanence. The material is synthetic and enduring, yet the handwriting and hand-drawn lines remind us of the transient humanity behind the words. The notes themselves—fragments of raw emotion—are simultaneously a closure and an opening, acts of despair and artistic declarations.

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     Through Last Lines, I aim to reclaim these notes as more than tragic remnants. By treating them as artistic objects, I honor their poetic nature and challenge the stigma surrounding them. These works ask the viewer to pause and confront the vulnerability and artistry inherent in a person’s last written words.

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     This series is not just about death, but about the profound need to communicate, even at the threshold of existence. By bringing these words into the realm of art, I hope to provoke reflection, empathy, and perhaps an appreciation for the complexity of the human spirit.