Trixia Pearl Del Rio De Vera

Theme: My Organ, My Companion

First Place, Open Category, 2023

Artist statement:

The reason why I chose the heart as the companion in the theme is because I do think that the heart in our bodies is the most vital organ that we need in our everyday lives in order to continue living on. It helps to pump blood throughout our body in order to help us function throughout the day. The heart is a precious source that we have to treasure properly, as the saying “An apple a day, makes the doctor go away.” Similarly to the heart, ‘A healthy heart gives a healthy lifestyle.’ In order for us to live a healthy lifestyle, one of the main contributions is to exercise.

Following up, I wanted to illustrate my design where a paraplegic man is immobilised. All his life he’s unable to move and has always been in a wheelchair. His dream is to become a para athlete so he decided to get prosthetics for him to run. However, the man feels like he isn’t able to reach his goal because of the incapability of having a strong body (also his disability). He fears no matter how many times he’ll try to stand up or move, he’ll fall. Thus, the heart is his main companion to overcome that fear of falling. It also gives him that small hope and determination to not give up and have the willingness to try.

I wanted to capture details where the heart is trying to help the paraplegic man to get up. The wheelchair behind reflects back to his ‘past’ self of living in the life of a wheelchair where you could not move or struggle. His companion (the heart) not only helps him to get up, but slowly gives him that support to ‘move on’ from his past for him to change for the better by trying out a sport he’s been aspiring to do (known as track and field). The track shows that he has a long way to go, but with a companion, it develops a strong value of sportsmanship to be able to accomplish something meaningful together. The man can’t function without a living heart, so for that, it continues to beat for him for the two of them to stay connected and having each other’s back leads to success. Even when there is no one looking (referring to the stadium benches, how there is nobody), the paraplegic man would take the effort of improving himself with discipline.

“In life, you can fall down 1000 times but the point is to have the willingness to stand up and start again.” (A quote by Jose Musica) This is most likely what the heart would say to the paraplegic man.

My main goal in my work is to point out to the viewers that it is never too late to have a healthy lifestyle or change for the better no matter what kinds of disability you have. Ourselves and the organ (heart) that lies within our chest is the strongest companion at our worst times. The heart beats for a reason, for us to live and for us to have an ounce of hope,

About the Artist

Trixia Pearl Del Rio De Vera, 17