Mark Villanueva, Self Portrait

"There is no top. There are always further heights to reach."

-Jascha Heifetz

Mark Villanueva believes in reaching for what famous violinist Heifetz refer to as "further heights" and takes one step at a time in improving his craft for painting and  his gift of playing the violin.

(Mark while working on his self-portrait)

(Mark in his former art space)

In his thesis painting no.1, Mark unveils himself on stage in his self portrait, to the viewers and performs for them with such intense emotions, as if playing side by side with Beethoven in his Moonlight Adagio or with Rimsky-Korsakov’s Flight of the Bumblebee.

With the Classical masters Rembrandt and Caravaggio in mind, Mark gives us a glimpse of his influences with his strokes in his canvas and injects his own style in his modern approach to portraiture. In his self-portrait, Mark opens up the viewers’ senses, by feeding them with varied sounds, textures, strong colors, and emotions welling up from his art. Here we can see Mark’s movements and hear his bow make sharp harmonics hitting the sweet spot in his violin as he tears our insides apart, and as if telling stories of his past, lets us experience his present, and invites us to embark on a journey to an indefinite future.

(Self-portrait in B&W)

As if he just came out of a dream sequence with the red curtains on and nimbus clouds on his back, Mark throws us notes, his darkest, deepest secrets, and remains serene and focused despite the distant gale, as shown in the flying music sheets coming out of nowhere in his composition. His prowess in violin and his passion for painting expose to us naturally, with Mark’s sensible playing, and his determination to make an impact to the crowd as shown in his facial expression, his crumpled clothes and bare feet in his portrait. Still he keeps us intimidated a little and mystified at the same time as we want to divulge more of the mysteries there is to this man, his music, his art, and his thoughts. One thing certain for now is that we know he has left us with a distinct mark, a question, or perhaps a wild thought or two we might carry on in an unknown state and time.  And that he also captured the essence there is to the art of portraiture as we have explored and experienced the experiences and emotions of the subject and the artist himself.

(Lorna Zaragosa)

'My Mark in This World', oil on canvas, 4 ft. x 6 ft., 2010