Balance, 2025 by Dafne Berg

36 x 36 in. Collage made with acrylics, watercolors, india ink and paper on canvas.
 
Balance is a mixed-media collage on canvas created with acrylic, paper, and India ink. The composition is built from imagined floral forms arranged within a yin-yang structure, partially submerged in a watery environment that suggests emergence, transition, and becoming.
One half of the piece blooms in vibrant oranges, pinks, reds, and yellows; the other is composed of cooler blues, purples, and whites. At the heart of each side sits a single, prominent flower rendered in the opposing palette. An orange flower, gilded with gold, on the blue side, and a blue, gold-highlighted flower within the warm spectrum create a visual dialogue between contrast and harmony.
The flowers symbolize life itself: resilient, cyclical, and constantly unfolding. The work reflects the idea that from deep sadness can come profound appreciation and, ultimately, happiness, and that from great joy, the depths of sorrow can be equally vast. The surrounding water signifies fluidity and impermanence, reminding us that emotions, states of being, and even identity are never fixed. Everything moves. Everything transforms. In this space between opposites, the piece seeks not resolution, but balance.