Many people are obsessed with washi tape, those decorative adhesives that come in pretty colors and patterns. But not all of them can do what artist Ge Mapa does—she uses them to create incredible portraits.

Her exhibit at Heima’s Brixton store, “Mix Tapes: Pinoy Pop Icon Portraits,” includes a portrait of the Eraserheads (have a look on page E1).

What inspired you to create a portrait of the Eraserheads?

My last exhibit were all Pinoy pop icons in different fields, so I thought they really deserved
to be included to represent OPM music, along with Francis M.

Are you an Eheads fan?

Yes! My friends and I listened to them a lot during college.

How long did it take you to do it?

Two days. A whole day to do all the black outlines and a day to add all the colored details.

Have you heard the new songs yet?

Yes!!! Only “1995” though. I already memorized the lyrics after two plays. Haha. They still sounded the same, maybe even better. Walang kupas!

Where can our readers see more of your artwork?

I’m still working on putting up a website with all my washi tape portraits. For now, they can check out my “Mix Tapes: Pinoy Pop Icon Portraits” exhibit at Heima Brixton. It will be there the whole month of September.

Can you tell us about your exhibit at Heima?

Coming from the Wes Anderson washi tape portraits exhibit during Heima’s fifth anniversary, I thought it would be nice to do a follow-up series. Since August was National Heroes Day and Linggo ng Wika, Bong (Rojales of Heima) suggested that it might be great to honor our local icons.

I chose those that I like from different fields—fashion, sports, music, film, etc.

I did Nora Aunor, Eheads, Francis M, Manny Pacquiao, Ramon Bautista and Cecile Zamora Van Straten. The Eraserheads and Nora got sold during the opening night.

Check out Ge Mapa’s exhibit, “Mix Tapes: Pinoy Pop Icon Portraits,” at Heima Brixton Unit 103 Three Brixton Building, Barangay Kapitolyo, Pasig City.