The visual arts is hot these days, as Filipinos show greater appreciation for its various forms. As we find out what inspires a photographer like Francesca Balaguer-Mercado, let’s also take a peek into her daily fashion and beauty essentials.

You’re kind of a no-fuss, no-muss kind of girl. What essentials do you have in your bathroom drawer, and what does your beauty regimen consist of?

As far as moisturizers go, I use Seba-med for my face and Palmer’s Cocoa Butter Oil for my body. With makeup, I stick to Bare Minerals, from foundation, blush, eyeliner, mascara… I love the brand and how user-friendly it is!

One thing I can be pretty adventurous about is my hair. I never hesitate cutting it if I feel like trying out a new look. While I am currently in a transition phase, I can’t wait to twist it up in a topknot soon!

You’re fond of red lipstick. What do you wear?

Make Up Forever in Moulin Rouge.

Do you have a signature “Friday Night Out” look?

I’m your typical girl from the south, so you’ll pretty much catch me in a black or white button-down shirt, jeans and a pair of Toms or my ever-loyal rugged boots I’ve schlepped in all over San Francisco.

Artists are notoriously polarized about the limelight. You have the hermit-like figures who don’t want to be photographed and avoid the public, and you have others—like Rachel Feinstein, for example, who even modeled for a Marc Jacobs campaign—who’ve embraced the cameras. Can you imagine yourself in the hyper-glam arena of the art world? And if so, is there a designer you see yourself wearing?

I think I’m just naturally drawn to more casual and laid-back settings, but it doesn’t necessarily mean I’m not adventurous or opposed to trying new things or meeting new people.

Having earned your degree at the University of the Philippines, and then studying in laid-back San Francisco, has this influenced your personal style?

Yes, definitely! Going to UP and San Francisco shaped the “I don’t care” attitude and made me feel like I could dress the way I felt. There are days when I really feel like expressing myself with a tough-meets-funky style similar to that of Gwen Stefani—minus the extremely ridiculous hot bod. I like the comfortable and fun style of Drew Barrymore, too.

You’ve worked with David La Chapelle. As glam gods go, he is up there. How has his work influenced your own?

His work and the experience of working with him was a good reminder that what you create doesn’t necessarily have to be what people necessarily consider as art. It sounds like a basic rule as an artist, but it’s pretty easy to fall and follow people’s expectations. With him, I saw that art isn’t always the dark, puzzling image people stare at, struggling to make a connection and then just walk away. Pop, bright and beautiful doesn’t necessarily mean shallow.

As an artist, you are essentially creating sets, fashioning sculptures and then framing them within your particular context. How do you create a whole new context? What are the tools of the modern photographer that help bring this world into reality?

When I work on a series, it usually starts with a general theme/concept/idea. With “Curious Comfort,” it really started with the idea of self-preservation, the feeling of wanting to survive, and thrive after going through a difficult situation. Photography as a medium has more and more been so much about the technology, and with the barrage of new equipment coming out, it can get exhausting to keep up.

I don’t limit myself to a photograph as the final output. Presentation of the work is all part of it. I experimented with this new material for my latest series. It’s like upholstery leatherette, stuff you’d cover a couch or throw pillow with. I printed the image on that and then mounted it on something like a foam mattress. It’s my play on the comfort part of the series.

The images vary in size, too—the scale relates to the emotions in the image—large and assaulting to small and intimate.

For your upcoming exhibit “Curious Comfort,” you work with conflicting emotions, tangled mind-sets. How do they come together?

I hope to explore the coexistence of these opposing concepts through the vibrant and dynamic colors contrasting the fragile and evocative subjects. Having the figures in the images all having the same hairstyle as mine was a way of relating that the whole series was inspired by a very personal and intimate part of my own life. I also used a lot of my family’s and my own personal things as props. The helmet was also an element that tied it all together.

What do you want viewers to take away from this universe that you’ve created?

With my work in general, I always hope to open up my viewers to the idea that dreams can be part of everyday lives, and that we should never stop dreaming (whether awake or asleep). With “Curious Comfort,” the message is that something beautiful can come from or coexist with something strange. To feel a mix of emotions all at once like joy and grief, love and hate, triumph and tragedy, being safe and taking risks, is what I believe makes us human.

“Curious Comfort” opens tomorrow, 6:30 p.m., at Avellana Art Gallery, 2680 FB Harrison St., Pasay City. The public is invited. Contact 8333357; e-mail [email protected]; visit the artist’s website francescabalaguer.com