FINAL PROJECT

watercolor and ink on paper with twine

 Detail 1

Detail 2

Detail 3

Detail 4

Detail 5

Diego Villegas

Elementum

“The only constant in life is change” -Heraclitus

Elementum is an attempt to comment on human connection and change. In this piece, I convey people as creatures of change, connected and disconnected. I use symbolism and color to create the space needed to suggest this strange paradox of attached and separate.

I begin this piece by thinking about what is important to me –what I need to express about my life at the given moment. I thought about my relationships with people, the ebb and flow of intimacy with family, friends, lovers, etc. The passage of time became the pivotal factor in my choice in concept. My relationships with the people around me change constantly with time; I have no solid counterparts, because we are all fluctuating within ourselves.

The painting consists of five figures distributed among five major frames and three minor ones. The assembled frames make up the shape of a cocoon, symbolizing the constant metamorphosis that embodies the entire piece. The winged figure to the far left symbolizes someone in the act of escaping. A type of change that feels that it cannot be in one place for too long. This type of change is one that feels change is essential. Like the air, she may be fleeting, and impossible to catch. She flies backward -making sure her exit is unnoticed. The second figure is seated with the mountains. He is the figure that believes he is not changing, but the landscape slowly changes around him. As he sits, his perception changes. He watches the world transform, and in this sense, he is slowing becoming the observer, the wallflower, the Wiseman. Like stone, he doesn’t move, but the elements shape him, smoothing and roughening him; he is changed by his surroundings. The third figure stands in a very dynamic pose. In yoga –this pose is called Standing Bow. It is a pose that can only be held for a limited amount of time. His muscles begin to tire and his balance begins to waver. He is a highly energized form of change. He is a sudden burst –a sprint, if you will, that is very focused, and very strong. But if nothing can replenish him, he loses focus and energy. Like a fire, he has the potential to be very

fickle, but is filled with passion and life. His flames feed on fuel, and must be fed in order to maintain spirit. The fourth figure at the bottom right of the series represents a gradual but durable type of change. This type of change is a sort of development or slow evolution. Like plants, this type of change is slow to grow, taking in energy from the sun, from fertile soil, and from water. It is a change that is weak at first, not knowing if his purpose will remain the consistent, but as he matures, he becomes confident of his purpose, and moves toward it with more confidence than before. In some ways, the purpose of this type of change is to always be growing into something stronger. The fifth and final figure to the top right of the series represents an intangible change. She is misunderstood, and very different from the rest. Looking in the opposite direction of the other figures, she seems to overlook them. In a way she is above them, but is underwater, which is logically impossible in comparison with the rest of the frame. Like water, she has no fixed shape of form. She can be as wild and terrifying as the sea while being as still and as calm as an untouched lake. She is like air in the sense that she is not easily grasped, but still able to be held. She cannot be put in a cage, but yet she can still sit in the palm of your hand. She gives life, but can also take your breath away. This is the type

of change that we cannot fully understand due to the infinite paradoxes that make her so unique.