About me
My works take an expressive portraiture of mostly female subject. I deconstruct the strong emotion of the women as diverse as contemporary portrait art. My style is influenced with fashion illustration and I recognize my works as representation of empowered women.
My passion in arts started when my mother bought me various art materials when I was 5 years old. Since then I always had a sketchpad in hand even until today. I started to draw female subjects when I discovered the comic book, W.I.T.C.H. I copy the characters and change their dresses and hair that matches my taste. In high school, I discovered Manuel Rebollo on DeviantArt and started to create realistic faces with harsh shadow.
One of my favorite reference for my subject is Ira Chernova, which I also discovered in Deviant Art back in 2009. I still use her photos as my reference for my subjects, honestly, because I still think that she has the perfect facial expression. I decided to continue doing what I love so I took up Multimedia Arts and Sciences when I was in college. I had to live by myself here in my own country because my parents had to work outside of the country so they can send me off to a good school. It made me explore more outside the school. I accepted and was focused on commissioned works because earning money gives me a better feeling than getting good grades. I attended a lot of exhibit shows, met the artists and socialized until I finally had a chance to showcase my works in group shows. I got the opportunity to participate in exhibit shows twice in a year since 2011 up until now. I joined several exhibit shows since I was first year college, dreaming that someday I'd have a solo show somewhere in Europe. As the years pass by, the days got so tough that I couldn't function well. I couldn't draw anymore and I barely eat and sleep. I needed my family. I went to Doha to visit my family and stayed there for 6 months. Finally, I felt that I was taken care of and felt the love of my family even more. The lost drive for my passion was back and discovered my style. What a blessing in disguise. I went back to Manila as a stronger young lady and continued to participate in exhibit shows.
I did a couple of good works as I search for international call for artists. In November 2015, I got an e-mail from It's Liquid Group, an Italy-based organization. I got qualified for a prestigious exhibit show that was going to be held at Palazzo Flangini, Venice Italy (in Grand Canal). The project coordinator described my works as an interesting contemporary way to interpret the historical "category" of portraits. The agreements and contract was settled, including the letter for the Italian embassy for the grant of visa. All that was left to do, is to find a sponsor for the expense. I emailed the big companies here in the Philippine including Ayala, Globe, National Commission for the Culture and Arts. I also sent an email to the Vice President, Leni Robredo. I had no connections and I wasn't born with a silver spoon that's why I really needed a grant. Unfortunately, the due date had come and I got no sponsorship grant. I did not make it to Venice. It was a big struggle for me to accept the fact that my dream was almost there and gone because I had no money. But no matter what happens, I am stronger than the circumstances and know that I am meant for something great.
