Photo courtesy of Paola Diaz de Castillo Rosique ’23.
Different art forms have a way of coming together to complement each other. This union is apparent in Paola Diaz del Castillo Rosique ’23’s multimedia painting, Looking for a song to match that feeling.
The piece features conductive paint that transmits electricity with touch. It invites viewers to interact with it by touching the painted vinyl records on the canvas, which prompts the connected speaker to play a song.
Set in her dorm room, the painting features Diaz del Castillo Rosique’s roommate, Priscilla Chan ’23, who is lying on a printed carpet surrounded by vinyls and a record player. “I wanted to transmit coziness and comfort, and I chose my dorm because it’s my safe place,” explained Diaz del Castillo Rosique.
Layers of vivid colors and patterns bring the scene to life. Diaz del Castillo Rosique features unique placements of different objects to relate back to the way she was first introduced to art: through collages. Her earlier work at Choate mainly featured a mix of watercolor, ink, and other mediums. However, after familiarizing herself with oil painting, she started to incorporate the medium into her pieces more often.
“Even though the painting is done from a reference picture, it still has a lot of patterns and colors that make it look like it is a collage, even though it’s just a picture,” said Diaz del Castillo Rosique. Among these elements are Chan’s plaid Choate pajama pants and her crimson hair against an intricately designed pillow, all of which add depth to the work.
As a member of the Visual Arts Concentration program at Choate, Diaz del Castillo Rosique spends four to five hours every day in the Paul Mellon Arts Center (PMAC) working on her art. In order to keep herself focused while painting, she chooses to listen to music or audiobooks.
As an avid music listener, Diaz del Castillo Rosique often finds herself trying to find music that captures her emotions. Her inspiration came from scrolling through Spotify, looking for the perfect song to represent her emotions. “I painted the vinyls because I thought being able to see the different vinyls was a fun way to represent having different options,” she explained.
Meant to convey feelings of comfort, Diaz del Castillo Rosique incorporated some of her favorite songs, including “Still” by Niall Horan, “The Chain” by Fleetwood Mac, “Sucker’s Player” by The Decemberists, and “Like Real People Do” by Hozier. The four vinyls that lie on the carpet surrounding Chan each play their corresponding songs in response to touch.
The most challenging part of the art installment was learning how to code and use a microprocessor, attached to the back of the painting, in order to make the songs play. After studying many YouTube videos, Diaz del Castillo Rosique finally got the technology to work. “It really allowed me to go out of my comfort zone and challenge myself, which is one of my main goals in the Arts Concentration program,” she said.
Through blending visual and audial components in her work, Diaz del Castillo Rosique found exciting ways to expand on her signature style. “Now I’m really excited to see how I could use conductive paints in other artworks,” she shared.
