Re-Envisioning the BVI
Walking into Arawak Interiors these days is like walking into an art gallery. New, original abstract pieces from Bali commingle with copper sculptures by locally based artist Diego.
The abstract pieces—like a trippy black and white spiral canvas or a tableau of alternating orange and brown corners—almost seem like optical illusions that promote introspection or could add a bit of whimsy to a room. Diego’s varnished copper sculptures, sconces and lamps, mostly of vegetation—palm leaves, bamboo shoots and heliconia blossoms—emphasize the geometric patterns in nature. On a recent visit to Arawak, I spoke with Diego about his work.
“I used to paint when I was very young,” Diego said, but then he saw what could be done with copper, and he fell in love with it. “It’s faster,” he said, “and I don’t like to wait.” Most of Diego’s inspiration comes from the flora surrounding his home. “I’m trying to reproduce nature on copper,” he said. The effect is striking and encourages viewers to see with new eyes sights that we take for granted every day in the BVI. Palm tree fronds, in copper instead of green, resemble the sun’s rays. A large, curved landscape of a bamboo-lined path reminds me of the distorting effect of seeing my surroundings through a rainstorm.
When I asked how he achieved such detail on the bamboo piece, Diego explained the process of working with copper. “Usually, you have to use the flame to warm it up. You can work in this way on a pitch or even a rubber pad or sand. Whatever allows the copper to be workable. When I was working on [the bamboo piece], I was scared because I couldn’t warm it because it was so big, and when you warm a piece of copper, you have to do all the shaping at one time, so it wasn’t possible—I had to do it cold. It was hard,” he said and told me that the six-foot tall piece took him a month to complete. Seeing the typically bright green bamboo replicated in the reddish-brown glowing metal is a bit disorienting, but the best art strives to challenge preconceptions.
The artist and his work. Photo by Traci O'Dea.
While Diego appreciates copper as an artistic medium, he added that it could sometimes be frustrating to work with because “not everything comes out as you like. With paint, you can correct it, but with copper, if you fail, you have to start again with a new piece of copper.” Another challenge that he’s found working with metal versus paint is that “you have to create shadows,” he said, indicating that shading is done with the depth and textures created in the monochromatic copper. “Everything’s possible with a brush—you can make shadows or make an expression.”
His interest in both paint and metals has inspired his next artistic endeavour—working with colour on the copper. “I want to try to use patinas,” he said. “They sell them in all colours possible, and you can mix them.” I’m excited to see what he comes up with using a full colour palette considering how effectively he’s been able to work in just one hue.
