?LIVE WITH WHAT YOU LOVE so it can keep coming back to you.?

I remember her telling me this when once I asked her why she kept an ever growing collection of coins. We all have deep-seated attachments to many things in our lives.

In Lizanne Uychaco?s case, it began with an old coin given by a Chinese monk when she was five years old. Chinese coins are symbols of wealth and prosperity. They are used as charms for good health and luck. For a five-year-old, the coin held the purest promise of safety against the evil eye and deliverance from a childhood ailment, so much so that Lizanne kept and treasured it, wearing it as a pendant to this day.

Her present collection of coins is the result of her desire to keep this positive experience in her life. Friends who know about her collection have added to it over the years as gifts and tokens of friendship, gratitude and love. The coins transcended their monetary value and became magical talismans invested with all good intentions and positive energy. Eventually, they found their way into Lizanne?s paintings. Some of these artworks found their way into her friends? homes. It became a cycle, following a pattern of continuity.

Lizanne?s artmaking vocabulary straddles both the ancient and the contemporary. The essence of her works lies in the auspicious coin, its shape and design elements: The square in the center of a circle represents the energy of the earth while the circle represents heaven. This powerful union of heaven and earth constitutes the cosmic ?Circle of Life,? signifying balance and harmony in our lives. Balance and harmony in the palm of a hand found a wider stage when Lizanne chose to depict this universal cycle of change in all of her paintings.

Using water-based oils and acrylic, the paintings are richly textured with visible brush and palette knife strokes. Her choice of colors is not just for aesthetics? sake but they (the colors) make up an integral part of the paintings. Hence, the vibrant and good-fortune reds, nurturing and calming emerald greens, elegantly distressed gold and silver flakes and purposeful bright orange, form her field and give rise to these extremely powerful and auspicious motifs and symbols in all her paintings. The dragon, a marvelous and mythological being with a long and rich history makes several appearances as do the phoenix, tiger and turtle.

?Magnetic Force? in verdigris and gold leaf vibrates with its own energy and takes a life of its own, interacting one at a time with each viewer that comes upon it. It inspires, invites contemplation and stimulates speculation. And yet compositionally, it is an abstract, with just the cosmic circle in a square.

Chinese pictograms

Recently in making her subject matter and boundaries more fluid, and to effect change, Lizanne started using ancient Chinese pictograms for their simpler forms and symbolic aspects.

?Chinese calligraphy has evolved. Ironically, it gained complexity in its efforts to become simplified. The early pictograms were easier to understand, appreciate and remember. They were effective means of early communication. They continue to be symbolic and reflect the customs, beliefs and mood of the era in which they were formed and used. I find them interesting to work with and enjoyable to interpret visually in a contemporary way,? the artist says.

The premise of Lizanne?s creativity is based on the ?art of placement? or feng shui. Meaning in our lives has as much to do as what we surround ourselves with. Our homes and surroundings have a direct impact on us. Guided by this philosophy, her paintings are not just decorative, they are strategically installed where they can enhance good energy to flow into your life.

It is also in this same spirit that Lizanne has gone into jewelry-making. In her latest exhibit, she shows paintings and a line of elegant jewelry that also reflects her painting aesthetic. They share common design aspects, the ?Circle of Life? becomes more pronounced in the three-dimensional objects: Pendants, earrings, necklaces and bracelets in gold, hardwood, jade and mother of pearl. The materials constitute the five basic elements depicting change and continuity: Earth, metal, fire, wood and water.

Clearly, her creative energies are constantly evolving. Her works worn as jewelry or viewed on the wall as paintings remind us to engage change and continuity in our search for harmony.

Lizanne Uychaco?s ?Simply Auspicious? exhibit of paintings and jewelry is ongoing at the Art Elements Gallery in Power Plant, Rockwell, Makati.