Describing her art as “elaborate expressionism,” she showcases 29 artworks that teem with figurative and expressionist images of women, plants and dainty, translucent objects sometimes reminiscent of the late Araceli Dans’ work.
By ALEX Y. VERGARA
Conrad Manila’s latest “Of Art and Wine” series celebrates Women’s Month this March by training the spotlight on young artist Kara Pangilinan. Dubbed as “Woman in Progress,” Kara’s exhibit, her fourth since becoming a full-time artist in 2016, consists of 29 artworks, mostly figurative as well as expressionist images of women, plants and dainty-looking objects such as translucent lace handkerchiefs and blouses, done in acrylic and ink. The show runs until May 10 at the hotel’s Gallery C.
If you’re wondering about her illustrious last name, yes, Kara, the daughter of Joseph and Vicky Pangilinan, is a niece of former senator Kiko Pangilinan as well as his equally celebrated siblings Anthony Pangilinan and Angeli Pangilinan-Valenciano. An Architecture graduate from the University of the Philippines-Diliman, 30-year-old Kara chose to prioritize her art over her degree, pursuing painting fulltime as soon as she graduated.
“Even back in high school I was always drawing,” she shares. “Using mainly inks, I printed my works on notebooks, envelopes and t-shirts, and sold them. As an Architecture student, I kept being pulled into the artworld. I finished my degree, but I wasn’t able to take the board exams because I immediately pursued art soon after leaving school.”
She describes her works, which consist mainly of various images often layered on top of the other, as “elaborate expressionism.” But before she could master drawing women and other figurative subjects, Kara went through a phase where she was into “pure abstraction.”
“I was initially drawn into painting to express all the thoughts and feelings inside me. I’m generally drawn to lines and patterns, and those are probably the elements that tie everything together,” she says.
Although she takes a lot of pictures, especially of lush, leafy plants, Kara, before facing the canvas, draws inspiration primarily from her feelings rather than on the images found in her cellphone. Many of her paintings also reveal a deftness in technique, particularly lace studies, that reminds us of earlier artworks by the late Araceli Dans.
“I’d take that as a compliment,” she says when we tell her that. “The lace came up in my third solo exhibit as a kind of accident because I often love to do things repetitively. That’s why I ended up doing a soliya (as background) series as well as pointillism. Choosing lace as my subject was just an opportunity for me to do something more difficult because there’s so much pattern involved in doing it.”
The initial response into her foray of painting lace on canvas was more than encouraging. Friends and collectors were one in saying that she should do more.
In lieu of making initial sketches, say, on a computer, Kara is old school, relying instead on her trusty notebook. She cites “Patience, Patience, Patience,” where several la suerte (fortune) plants in the foreground are interspersed with barely visible plants in the background, as one of her most difficult pieces. Adding to the artwork’s difficulty while instantly giving it a touch of Filipiniana is a network of woven soliya between the two sets of plants.
She may not have pursued Architecture, but Kara, who likes almost every element on her canvas measured, also finds satisfaction in filling up space with patterns.
“As a whole, the most challenging part in this collection is the absence of any clear references. Images that end up on canvas aren’t exact copies of images I see or capture in pictures. I try to change everything,” she says.
Working on a concept or feeling that, of course, comes from her head before it assumes shape and takes space on her canvas is proving to be the longest, hardest, but also the most rewarding thing about the entire process.
