WATER ROOT, 2012
Water Root is the artist first short film project and collaboration with poet Nicole Sealey which brings alive the world depicted in the artist’s paintings at the time. The roughly 7 minute narrative brings the viewer into a female tribe clad in animal skins and masks engage in rituals of hunting, play and painting. Familial bonds bridge divides of race and abstract paintings on canvas are fashioned into ritual masks. Sealey recites her still developing poem “Even the Gods” as narration for the film. Sealey’s voice and words are metered to a montage of moving image, taking us through a typical day of these forest denizens. Sealey’s poem, much like the artist’s own work, muses on the relational scale of nature, myth and power within Western imaginings of supremacy. The poem’s final version ends with the cautionary, “Even the gods have gods.”
The film was written and directed by William Villalongo. Cinematography and Editing by Joseph Hung. Produced by William Villalongo and Tulpa Pictures. Music Composition, Sound Design and Mix by Timothy Bright. Audio services provided by 60 Cycle Music. ©Villalongo Studio LLC
