Cordillera culture. PHOTOS BY ARNOLD BALADAD
MANILA, Philippines—Where are the so-called Promil kids of the famous 1995 ad campaign by the milk brand promoting good nutrition as a basis for genius and creativity?
One of them is still painting two decades since participating in that campaign at age 4. The change is that he tends to paint dark subjects nowadays.
“Now there’s a sense of darkness… [The kids are] sort of growing up,” Romeo Rosete IV told the Inquirer, pointing to his paintings at Café by the Ruins Dua in Baguio City.
“Before, I was looking at the happiness of play, now there are fears,” he said. “Now, there are internal struggles in the subject and the viewer.”
For instance, “Alamat ni Tonyong Mapangarapin” shows a kid dreaming of a better life, of being superhuman, but who is frightened of the unknown.
His art is now noisier, even disturbing.
His works can take months upon months to complete, because he said he wants them to burst with symbols, icons and even thought bubbles. Paradoxically he goes for bright colors to represent negativity.
Three of his works joined 15 other pieces by other artists in “Nostalgia,” an exhibit which ran at the restaurant from Feb. 12 to March 11.
The pieces stood as survey materials of 2008 entrants to the Fine Arts program of University of the Philippines Baguio. The participants had to be based in Baguio or nearby towns.
The three other participants—Kizel Cotiw-an, Rochelle Bakisan and Vincent Navarro—also reported developments in their art-making.
Social commentary
“For my visual practice and creative process, I’ m becoming deeper, more critical,” said Navarro, whose forte is social commentary, first through oil on canvas and mixed media, and later with coffee grounds he had developed into a medium for the visual arts.
His centerpiece, “Fallen 44,” is an oil on canvas commenting on the recent killing of the Philippine National Police Special Actions Force men.
Bakisan’s longtime interest in Cordillera spirituality and symbolism was obvious in her three works, one of which borrowed from the colors of the funeral blanket, traditionally used to wrap the remains of the dead.
Her thinking process has improved, she explained. She conducts research to reinforce her knowledge of local cultures, even as she works full time in government.
Cotiw-an came home from Italy where she was working just in time for the exhibit. Her works tended to be whimsical and playful.
Just like she did in college, her three former classmates explained, she still crams her canvas with bright colors and childlike images.
But the references are expanding, because her art has always been inspired by personal experiences. One of her works is titled “Nights in Venice.”
“The result of the survey is, there are a lot of new influences,” noted Navarro. “There was change over the years, there was evolution. It is not really stagnant.”
The four agreed that they had continued to develop their art since college.
“We are trying to maintain a going-up situation, go where the expectations are higher,” Navarro said. He explained that he was planning “monumental” projects—works of scale and societal impact.
Cotiw-an was looking to gain more experience in life.
Bakisan said she wanted to create a painting series of young men dancing the cañao, so that the pieces would eventually assemble a real community dance.
Rosete meanwhile said he would like to paint narratives of homeless kids.
And one more thing, he said, “Graduation, mainly.”
His batchmates disclosed it took him years to finalize his undergraduate thesis topic.