1st Portal: Last June, the featured artist of the month was Maestro Dennis Gonzaga, a Bicolano artist, educator and a family man. Maestro Dennis had the whole month during weekends to work on the portal. It was challenging on his part because according to him, murals are not really his forte. At first Maestro Dennis eyed on Miguel de Cervantes' Don Quixote, but the academic nature in him made him choose a Mexican poetess, Sister Juana Ines de la Cruz of the Spanish golden age. Sister Juana was born in Mexico but was educated in Spain. According to Maestro Dennis, Sister Juana wanted to celebrate artistry but there were a lot of restrictions in being a nun back then. But despite all these restrictions she was still able to become an artist in her own ways. She was a woman ahead of her time and Maestro Dennis felt the need to celebrate that.
"Detente, sombra de mi bien esquivo" is the poem of Sister Juana which is all about how a person deals with one's own shadow and coming to terms into the light and hope. The mural is in monochromatic with black and yellow color representing light and shadow. Words "Sombra" for Shadow and "Luz" for "Light" which represents as the conservative side of Sister Juana and as an artist respectively. The sun on top represents the presence of God as witness to our passions and shadows of the soul. The tower of shadows on one side with lightning represents the struggle and on the other side is the tower of reasons where there is light and peaceful waters.
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| Ms. Bidibi and the 2nd portal for the month of July. |
2nd Portal:For the month of July, Ms. Bernadette Delos Santos or famously known as Ms. B or Ms. Bidibidi, an artist from Baao, completed the second portal of Que Pasa. Daunted and privileged on her part to paint the second portal of Que Pasa, she interpreted Laura Esquivel's 'Como Agua Para Tsokolate'. Ms. Bidibidi is known for her floral paintings and La Huerta Farm in Baao.
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Awarding of the Plaque of Appreciation to Maestro Dennis Gonzaga
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The progress.
Photo by Ms. B |
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| The second portal completed by Ms. Bidibidi |
3rd Portal:The third artist for the Siete Paobras is Señor Frank Peñones Jr. who hails from Iriga City. He interpreted Cuban poet laureate Nicolas Guillen's "Caña(Cane)!". During an interview with Señor Frank (by ABS-CBN Bicol) he shared that the mural is a reverse ekphrasis (a literary description of a visual work of art). It utilized visual and poetic devices like appropriation, collage, and allusion as it depicts the sugar cane field as both space for colonial bondage and liberation.
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| Señor Frank in action |
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| Culmination of the third portal. |
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| Bigg's CEO Carlo Buenaflor reads the citation of the Plaque of Appreciation |
4th Portal:Now the next artist that you will be seeing in Que Pasa these October days is someone special to our group (Bicol Bloggers). Apart from being an online "social media influencer", she is a teacher by profession and a also a talented artist. Her artworks are currently displayed at
Don Rodolfo's Cafe, wall art at Like Corner in Villa Corazon Subdivision and Backdraft Bar in Taal Avenue. Fondly called as CamSur Princess by many she is no other than
Ms. Marianne Yvette Ducut.
Yvette will be interpreting Siete Infantes de Lara (Seven Princes of Lara). It is one of the most popular Philippine metrical romances in the nineteenth century based on the Spanish legend Los siete infantes de Lara. The story being somehow gruesome and tragic, Yvette is challenged on how she will be able to translate it visually according to the story but creatively showing the tragic side. A fun and cool girl that she is, I'm expecting that her artwork will be a bit modern with a cosmopolitan vibe.
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| The portal assigned to Yvette is the portal nearest to the bar. |
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| Yvette's parents and youngest sister with Carlo and Rica Buenaflor |
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This space is reserved for the remaining 3 artists and their portals in Que Pasa. Stay tuned!
