The art exhibit conducted by the Pasakalye Group of Artists at SM City Baguio is considered a historic and successful event for Cordilleran artists in keeping with the promotion as a UNESCO creative city, as hope of being showcased in other SM malls is high. More than 400 art works from 99 talented artists, whether professional or novice, were displayed from July 31 to August 13 at the Atrium Event Center, just proof of SM’s support to the creative sector expand their talents and lead the way to also give other artists the opportunity to hold an exhibit. Black and White Artist Student artist Edria Partosan Sevilla, 21, is now famous for her black and white artwork, which is often the life size of celebrities and well-known personalities. “Actually I love minimal designs, then the black and white one was inspired by stencil arts, but I looked at acrylic paint instead of the real stencil during the pandemic. I tried it as an experiment by making a black and white painting, mostly whatI do now are life size,” Sevilla said. Some of her life size art works are national artist Apo Whang-od which he displayed in Tam-awan Village, and was immediately sold. The face of Bob Marley, Cup of Joe, Efren “Bata” Reyes, which mostly has dimensions of 3x4x5 feet. Although only small art works were displayed in SM City Baguio, Sevilla also participated with small and colored works. “It’s not my first time to do color, even though I really like black and white, but when the exhibit requires color and the theme is renaissance, I did it to grab the opportunity to join the exhibit. ” Three National Artists stuck together on one canvas, Apo Whang-od, Ben Cabrera of Bencab Museum and Kidlat Tahimik, with the title Cordillera Living Legend, featured in the exhibit and a black and white with the title ‘Enchantress”. The said Cordillera Living Legend canvas painting made of acrylic is among the Top 10 in his exhibit at Camp John Hay. Professional Artist One of Pasakalye’s skilled artists is Carmen Jean Villanueva, whose masterpieces are paintings made in Fluid Art, Abstract, Figurative and Pyrography. For the first time she was proud of his creation Gaze of a Goddess artworks, which is called Art Nouveau, a woman’s face, which seems to be alive in its shape and used acrylic. “Most of the art nouveau paintings are actually women. I love painting women, of course because women always represent strength, Strength but then a woman is still soft. Soft but strong, a woman is resilient, so that’s why I love painting women. This is my first painting with a face and this is self-taught, nobody taught me and I will also do pyrography. Most of the artists here are self-taught,” said Villanueva. Villanueva started drawing when she was young, but she really started doing artwork full-time was when she joined Pasakalye in 2021. “What’s nice about Pasakalye, when you’re a member of Pasakalye and join the exhibit, they make you think out of the box. They bring you out of your comfort zone. Like they know, I’m an abstract artist and yet they still made me do a realism. “With Pasakalye I also grew as an artist, because again, they make you go out of your comfort zone to try other medium, to try other styles, not just to stay in your comfort zone,” said Villanueva. Small but great artist Zylan Yvonne Blando, 24, who is also fond of abstract painting, which she started in March 2024, shared a different talent in the field of visual arts. “I started drawing nature, I experimented with a different kind of abstract, I also do photography, then I make it into an art. I became interested in it after my graduation in Hospitality Management, and I made it a hobby, while I was looking for a job,” said Blando. According to Blando, she started making art in 8×8 size. The first art she made was bought by his Aunt, who also participated in the exhibit at Porta Vaga and at the SM Art Market. Of the 12 acrylic artworks she has created since March, six have been purchased, including a display at SM. “I would like to thank them for giving Pasakalye recognition here at SM City Baguio to market our artworks and also for giving us the opportunity to showcase the local talents of Baguio City. When I first met Mam Maricar, that’s when I started exploring medium art,” said Blando. Hobbyist Artist Leopold Ludan, a native of Baguio City and currently working in Quezon City, said that painting is still part of his life as an artist, which he started when he was in elementary school until college. Although he is a regular government employee, he does not forget to make paintings to participate in exhibits and be recognized as a great artist. It proudly displayed in its second exhibit at SM City Baguio, an acrylic arts of a Wolf with the title Territorial which went with a P10,000 price. “I started painting and participated in exhibits in 2021, then three straight exhibits, after that, I was gone for one year, but now I’m coming back. When I was in elementary school, I was inclined to make art only through water color, in high school I also continued to make art until I was in college and now even though I have a job, I participate in exhibits,” said Ludan. The first thing I do is focus on the subject I want to happen, then I will play with him in the end. I drew first and looked for good references, but not exactly from the reference, I made changes from the reference according to my own taste.” Pointing at one of his, works, he said “Like this art work, it is territorial, I played with it and it came from my mind and I painted it with acrylic.” According to Ludan, during the pandemic he had
