Ryan Villamael, a recent graduate of the Fine Arts Program at the University of the Philippines, presents Cut Felt, an exhibit of large-scale paper cut outs in strange and free, yet balanced patterns.

Villamael’s first solo show stems from childhood memories of doing paper cut outs, such as making paper snowflakes—folding the paper in equal parts, cutting out patterns, and then unfolding it to reveal the whole picture.

Just how as a child Villamael “left the whole to chance”, in Cut Felt, Villamael applies the same process. Meticulously nipping away at the felt, he plays close attention to one side of the picture. The precision drawn on one side gives way to probability. The full picture is always a surprise.

And if “felt” is the material, “felt” too is the idea behind the work. Villamael explains: “the title is ...also about feeling; “to cut” like the process of dissection, and “felt” like the sense of resembling something.” In the same way one side of the paper is only a

resemblance of the whole, memories are but resemblances of an actual fact. Villamael visualizes how his memories have details, which have been deliberately cut out in order to make sense of the truth. Cut Felt is about unearthing connections that were never apparent before. There are realizations found when there is an attempt to connect the pieces.

Words by Bea Davila

By meticulously cutting paper much like a surgeon dissecting flesh, I am investigating the organic relationship between halves.As seen in nature, any left side has a right, and upon seeing one side, the other side is inevitably exposed. Such binaries become the underlying theme, engaging the opposite as part of a whole. On cutting paper, as I am drawing out the image on one side, I get to unravel the full picture leaving the components of the whole to chance.As dissection exposes the unknown composites of a whole, cutting inversely creates the aggregates within the uncut. In revealing the images a familiar yet uncanny mess trigger memories from childhood laying on biology, science fiction, folktales, mythology, fancy fairy tales and play.And by navigating each stone unturned, by recollecting experiences and memories, I nip away certain parts and put in some resemblance in every cut on the surface.

Ryan Villamael
December 2010