ARTIST STATEMENT
Early in life I developed a need to work daily on my art. Over the years this has taken many forms: collage, sculpture, dolls – just about anything that can be manipulated and transformed. For me it is a form of therapeutic play.
After working for eleven years throughout Europe in the field of stained glass restoration, I felt the need to focus my attention on making my own art. I returned to Chile. The rigid precision required in the process of stained glass had lost its charm for me, and I began to approach the work in a more intuitive way. I allow myself to play visual games in my mind, shuffling shapes and colors which ultimately result in imagery such as the pieces in this show.
I am drawn to the human figure in all its absurd complexity. In the course of my collage play, faces emerge which in my mind become “mensajeros” or messengers, carrying all the crazy joy and beauty of the human world.
ARTIST BIOGRAPHY
Marcelo Villagran is a Chilean artist living and working in his native country. He was born on the fabled island of Rapa Nui (Easter Island) where he lived until his teen years. After moving to mainland Chile, he studied Graphic Design. In his twenties, Marcelo relocated to Spain where he learned and practiced the detailed craft of Stained Glass Restoration at the Massana School for the Arts in Barcelona. He returned to Chile in 2004.
Marcelo currently lives in San Vicente de Tagua Tagua, one hour south of Santiago, where he enjoys a quiet life with his partner and twelve rescue animals.