Figure 1
My home before (left-hand image). My home now (right-hand image).
Figure 2
Black and White. You can see the river where I went to swim with friends. Why is it in black and white? That’s how I saw things: what one learns is what gives color to one’s life. Friends involve one ‘in things.’ One gets caught up and all this is because one has nothing more to do. To hold the weapon gives you strength. I never had the dream of being an astronaut or a pilot. I dreamed of having a rifle. But I wasn’t born like this; circumstances lead me. But when you start to understand it, you think, ‘What have I done? What am I doing here? Where am I going?’ It is hard to see a way out. I fear that it’s too late.
Figure 3
Inside My Heart. My picture shows the movement in my life between love and death, between joy and sadness. In life there has been a lot of love but also a lot of sadness and loneliness. Death has touched me since I was very little. I learned to be a man among these troubles: death and love. Several persons close to me have died, they have fractured the dreamed-of path, but others have taught me love; to get up again, to recover myself again. There are parts of me that are very hard, but I am also sensitive. I know I don’t want to die; I have several things that are clear for my life. I am light and that’s where I’m going.
Figure 4
Water of Life. This represents what we’ve lived and what we can become. The road begins on the right side and then it joins the other. At the beginning there is a moment of silence, then it opens to two sources: on one hand there is destruction, slaughter, the dark side. On the other is the possibility of harmony, of a joyful community, where happiness can begin. Very few will be in contact and in balance with nature. The sacred place for us is where we purify ourselves, where an elder refreshes us. Because on the road one can be convinced and go to the dark side. But there is another road above, it turns and once more toward the river. The river represents the water of life. In life there are many options and many possible roads.
Figure 5
Public installation in Pereira.
Figure 6
Special installation that uses cement blocks to imitate gravestones and pay tribute to the young people who have died because of violence during the war.