After turning 60 last year, the veteran fashion designer was thinking of slowing down and transitioning into something different. He was unsure what to do until the pandemic put an abrupt stop to his designing career. The brief lull inspired him to revisit his first love—painting.
By Alex Y. Vergara
As one of the first media outlets to have featured the works of fashion designer-turned-painter Edgar San Diego more than a year ago, PeopleAsia has seen how the artist’s works have evolved over time. From solo women occupying one huge canvas, for instance, Edgar has started adding more characters in his more recent masterpieces.
Indoor settings have also transitioned into the outdoors. And in his desire to challenge himself with light and shadow, he has also ventured doing certain art pieces set during sunset and early evening. But several elements remain constant in all his paintings: his focus on women and the idyllic and bygone time they lived in, which was the 1950s; the vintage Filipiniana dresses, from the formal terno to the more casual baro’t saya, his female subjects wear; and the explosion of vibrant colors and elements on his canvases, an influence, he says, of legendary Mexican muralist Diego Rivera.
And these subtle transitions as a painter, including his brand of fashion as a designer, are on full display in “Baro’t Saya, Tuwa at Ligaya,” Edgar’s first ongoing one-man exhibit at SM Mega Fashion Hall. The 40-piece collection using acrylic, including spaces devoted to art installations of sorts combining his paintings and formal wear, will be on display until October 15.
“I really wanted to focus on my art this time,” says Edgar, who, as a veteran designer, have joined countless fashion shows and photo shoots in the past. “But when I saw how huge the space is and the limited number of panels that were lent to me, I decided to incorporate a number of evening dresses I’ve made in the past so that the place wouldn’t look empty.”
Celebrations like fiestas and age-old Filipino customs, from courtship to dating, are still among his favorite themes. But he has lately added such subjects as women in everyday scenes like market vendors and shoppers haggling for a good buy during a typical market day.
“My paintings of women in the market are part of a series I want to further expand on in the future,” he says.
If not for the pandemic, Edgar says he would still be probably designing clothes and attending to clients full time. But because demand for his made-to-order evening wear came to an abrupt halt during last year’s lockdown, Edgar, a Fine Arts graduate major in Advertising from the University of Santo Tomas, had the chance to fully immerse himself with his first love, which is painting.
“My father really wanted me to become an architect, but I knew deep in my heart that I wouldn’t thrive as one,” he shared with us in an earlier story. “For some reason, I managed to convince him that I would take up Fine Arts instead.”
As some form of compromise to his parents, Edgar also became a working student in a fashion boutique while in college. As a sideline, he also worked as an illustrator for some of the leading designers of the day. Those initial stints in fashion eventually led him to become a fashion designer himself soon after graduating from college in the early 1980s.
Other than joining group exhibits with fellow former classmates during class reunions, Edgar didn’t devote much time to painting until last year. He posted his initial works on Facebook to share with friends. Before long, he started receiving inquiries from interested buyers. These days, the artist tries to finish at least one painting a week. He has also been busy doing commissioned work.
“I force myself to finish at least one painting every week,” he says with a chuckle. “Otherwise, I’d end up with a half-finished work when the weekend rolls in.”
“I’m happy I explored painting,” he concludes. “I wouldn’t have revisited my art if not for the pandemic. I’d probably still be devoting a huge amount of my time doing clothes into my retirement. Not that it’s bad. But the pandemic has disrupted my routine, leading me to where I am now.”
