Pencil as a medium of expression has always been a challenge to me. I decided to work with this particular technique to experience a new stage in my art. I am pleased with my efforts especially its visual quality that gives the work a clear sense of antique that enhances a nostalgic feel.

I started this drawing a long time ago and it was incomplete until now when its meaning came to mind. This drawing was originally inspired as a fantasy or surreal piece of work. When I began to conceptualize the painting in 1983 there was a clear reference of all living forms present in the tropics that have surrounded me since my childhood. All of them interpret my perception linked to an emotional mood and represents each of these living forms and moments of time in my life.

In the drawing there is a clear intention to lose the observer inside the drawing. What actually looks complicated is an attempt to describe all existing matter. This gives a sense of disorder that to me is part of realism. It is just the way things look in nature from a wide view but when we look closely we discover the beauty of the forms.

My purpose was to find a place inside my conscious thoughts. I needed to find a space to fit each form representing a different mood or time of the day. There is a challenge to balance the composition and it did become a bit complicated. Some parts represent different spaces and scale and other do not have so much detail.

The left side of the composition represents the serenity in time of life; the start of the night or ending of the day. There is also the sinister part of the composition where some expressions allude to fear. The right side is more about the rhythm of life. The effect illustrates the progressive ascending into meaning of stages in life. The observer should be able to see the progression of life while at the same time experiences are hidden on the path of growth.

There is no attempt to create a focal point in the composition since every thing is meant to blend together just like life. However, the main point could be the portrait of my sister referencing the challenge of drawing or doing art. That is why she is pointing the pencil to the scorpion to show how she could kill it, but also as a clear reference to the similarity of the pencil and the sting. Each one can hurt you for good, but in this case the pencil is blocking the aggressor. In same way art can help us block emptiness and create meaning.