For the empowered woman like homegrown artist Lisa de Leon – Zayco, nothing is impossible. For this artist who waited a full 27 years before finally embracing the artistry in her that could no longer be ignored, this empowerment is made whole and shared with every piece, tile and color that make up her mosaics.
(Panaginip)
Better late than neverÂ
“Pursue your passion. Don’t let go of it. Just pursue it,†says this curly-haired Filipina who began creating mosaics just five years ago.
It’s a piece of advice many people are given, but a piece of advice is only as good as the commitment given to it by the person that offers it. In Lisa’s case, there is certainly no trace of pretension or contradiction as this Assumption College graduate is living proof of this nugget of wisdom and speaks from her own experiences.
For one thing, she was once a full time insurance broker before making the big leap to the world of art. This mother of four was always artistic and often dabbled in painting when she was younger, but for many of us, Lisa included, the realities of life can catch up with us and lead to unexpected detours. “I had to raise a family. So for 27 years, I hung my brushes, didn’t do any artwork,†she shares.
For 27 long years, passion was put in the back burner in favor of practicality. Marriage took her to Bacolod, but when the kids were all grown and her focus could once again be shared with other pursuits, art was on the top of her to do list.
“Now, it’s my me time, and I wanted to go back to my own passion. I started getting back into painting again, until 2011 when there was a workshop. It was conducted in Bacolod and so I flew there. It was a two-day workshop and we were ten; I had the worst piece. That was it. I told myself, ‘I can do better than this!’ It was so bad that when I got home, I did something with a bang, and so I did geisha.â€
Lisa was of course referring to Sayuri — a mosaic of a Japanese woman, a geisha.
Perhaps something bigger, something different was awakened in this artist who previously only experimented with brush and canvas, because soon after, paint was traded in for bits of tile, glass and ceramics and Lisa was hooked.
The rest, as they say, is history.
(Amihan)
A labor of love
As if creating art wasn’t difficult enough, mosaic turns up the difficulty level by a notch or two.
“I also paint, but a single brush stroke can take a second, but in mosaic, it would take at least 30 minutes to create that brush stroke because you have to blend the colors. And to blend the colors, if you had a tile that was 8×8, you would only use a tiny bit. You put that together to make it blend,†Lisa explains.
Five years after her first mosaic, the process has not become any easier for her. But she continues to do what she does because this is where where her true passion lies. Nothing great comes easy, after all.
“First of all, to blend the colors, you have to pick the right tiles. So if everyone likes going to the mall to shop for clothes, I love going to the hardware. I go to Wilcon and there I would even say if the owners of Mariwasa would take notice of me!†she continues with a laugh.
“It’s very challenging to be working with very cold materials, and yet I can create flow and softness through it. And where is it coming from? I guess with my own experiences. Through all the challenges and the hardships that I went through, what life throws at you, somehow I was able to pick up the pieces, rise from the rubble. Only in brokenness are we made whole, just like mosaics,†she shares.
(Detail from Langoy sa Panuelo II)
On a missionÂ
Lisa explains that as she started to get to know the art form better, she also realized that in the Philippines, mosaic is not as revered as other expressions of art. Perhaps it’s because not many artists have ventured into it and that Filipinos simply are unfamiliar with it. One her missions is to address that.
“Here, when you say mosaic, you would always associate it with all those European mosaics that are so nice. But we are Filipinos. So that’s when I said, ‘no. Somehow, we have to awaken the people to mosaic,†she says.
While it’s true that mosaic art mostly brings to mind Greek or Roman imagery, Lisa’s mosaics have undeniable Filipino subjects. This is a deliberate choice; she borrows a predominantly Western technique and manages to adapt it to the Filipino context, perhaps in an attempt to make the still foreign art form more relatable to a local audience whose appreciation for art continues to deepen.
PanueloÂ
Lisa’s most recent exhibit entitled Panuelo carries over the same Filipino themes. Specifically, she has chosen to depict Filipinas in traditional wear while sporting the panuelo.
A panuelo is the triangular cloth that was once traditionally worn over the baro’t saya. “The panuelo is very versatile. You can enhance a very simple dress with it, because it’s a scarf, and at the same time it keeps you warm. It’s usually colored with cute tassels and worn with a plain dress. I’m just so mesmerized with all the colors,†Lisa elaborates.
Delving deeper into the subject, in a panuelo’s versatility, Lisa saw the resilience of the Filipina. Just as a panuelo has multiple uses, put Filipinas in any context or challenge them in any way, and they will continue to exude their God-given beauty, grace and strength, no matter what.
Whether it’s herself she’s empowering, the audience she wants to bring closer to mosaic, or even the Filipina, for Lisa, at the end of the day, women empowerment is the cement that holds all the pieces together.
The Panuelo exhibit will continue to run up to the end of the month and is located at Suite 206, LRI Design Plaza, 210 Nicanor Garcia St., Bel Air 2, Makati City.Â
(Laba-Laba)
(Ale, Sampaguita)
(Pag-aaruga ni Inay)
(Langoy sa Panuelo II)
(T’Boli Maiden)
(The artist, Lisa de Leon-Zayco)
