Translucent Papercraft Sets the Stage for Women Navigating the Haziness of Everyday Life

For years, I’ve been enthralled by the allur­ing art­work of Sonia Alins. The images, sim­ply put, are swim­ming illus­tra­tions fea­tur­ing women as they nav­i­gate an infi­nite abyss and are obscured by the hazy body of water. We only see parts of their faces or the tips of their toes as they tread water or dive well beneath the surface.

These illus­tra­tions rep­re­sent the third iter­a­tion of Dones d’aigua (Water Women). While the con­cept of the series has stayed the same through­out the years, Alins tweaks it with each ver­sion. This year fea­tures more detailed cloth­ing that’s vis­i­ble even beneath the vel­lum paper over­lay. The fig­ures, how­ev­er, have a sim­i­lar appear­ance; we can assume they are the same peo­ple from ear­li­er versions.

If we accept that the water is a metaphor for our lives, then the ongo­ing project demon­strates how life con­tin­ues to move for­ward. Some­times you’re keep­ing your head above water (bare­ly) or you’re fac­ing your demons with your eyes closed. We’ll have to wait for the fourth iter­a­tion of Dones d’aigua to find out what’s next for these characters.