February is National Arts Month. This is an annual fete that started in 1991 with the signing of Presidential Proclamation 683. This year, the National Commission for Culture and the Arts declared the theme as “Alab-sining, Alay-sigla,” as “NAM aims to conserve, promote and popularize Filipino artistic creations; integrate the arts in the community life; and harness the arts as catalysts for values education” especially amid a pandemic.
The fashion scene was in a frenzy, as the nominations for National Artist for Fashion ended on February 28. Salvacion Lim Higgins, the formidable woman behind the Slim’s Fashion and Arts School, seems to be the front-runner.
Meanwhile, in their own way, established fashion designers Edgar San Diego and Edwin Ao are pursuing their other artistic calling: painting.
EDGAR SAN DIEGO
THE former president of the Fashion Designers Association of the Philippines, San Diego is known for distinctive work in haute couture and theatrical costume design.
“When I was taking up fine arts major in advertising at University of Santo Tomas, I took a few part-time jobs to make me financially independent. One of them was hand-painting gowns for some established designers [which was a trend that time]. This made me very familiar to acrylic paints, which is still my medium up to now,” San Diego said.
He had a chance to join his college batchmates for three reunion/art exhibits a few years ago, although these were only short stints and he has always gone back to fashion after the exhibits were done.
“During the lockdown, I started painting again but only full time last May 2020, since there’s more time in my hands now. My love for Filipiñana costumes, beautiful women, colors and production design inspire me, and I try to capture them in my art. I always try to give my paintings varied period looks, such as Victorian, Art Nouveau, Art Deco, Sampaguita movies, etcetera,” added San Diego.
Among his favorite painters are Gustav Klimt, Diego Rivera, Claude Monet, Fernando Amorsolo and Botong Francisco. “Right now, I still continue to learn while painting everything I love most and I try to keep my colors happy and my subjects positive because it is something that we need most in times like this.”
EDWIN AO
A Cebu City-based member of the Fashion and Design Council of the Philippines, Ao also teaches multimedia arts at the Cebu Institute of Technology University. “When the government implemented the nationwide lockdown, my business closed and my teaching profession was done online. That’s when I decided to revisit painting. I had to unearth my materials and decided to paint to keep myself sane in the midst of the rapid rise in Covid-19 cases in Cebu,” Ao shared.
A graduate of Bachelor of Fine Arts major in Advertising Arts at the University of San Carlos, Ao has a fundamental background in painting.
“I am a big fan of Francis Bacon. I admire his brushstrokes and his canvases communicate powerful sentiments—whole montage seem to scream, not just the people depicted on them. He has the ability to create such a formidable proclamation. Jean Michel Basquiat—because of his many different styles and techniques that are very distinctive. And Alberto Burri. Unlike other post-war abstract painters who focused on spontaneity and self-expression, Burri adopted a methodical approach to his work,” Ao said.
He admitted that he is pretty much in his element in abstraction: “In abstraction, there are different facets to show something beyond it. My favorite materials to work on are canvas, paper and acrylic, although I’m now trying to study the effects of decomposed linen fabric to be included in the medium. Still in the experimentation phase.”
Art brut (raw art) and abstract expressionism are Ao’s favorite artistic expressions. “I am working on a commission basis at this time. Some of my clients are asking me if can fill their walls with some of my works, and I’m very much happy to provide them with my works,” Ao said. “I haven’t had an exhibit yet. But hopefully in the future, because it takes full-time preparation and focus.”
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