Singaporean visual artist SHANE LEE on reuniting with his first love

It's an artist's everyday story to turn to an art form to channel, deal if not understand his inmost feelings and private longings. Cebu-based Singaporean visual artist Shane Lee is no exception.

Looking for a way to cope with trials early in life, in fact, introduced him to painting. When barely 8 years old, he was sent to an uncle after his father died and his mother found it hard to support all 12 of them children, the youngest son would try to wash away his homesickness by drawing on the walls.

In an impulsive visit to his mother in his teens, it was the joy and excitement of seeing her, even from a distance, which became subject of a drawing that merited his first-ever award.

Later on, he would experiment with various and more traditional media before finally finding his "dream art" in finger-painting with the use of offset ink. His career would take off following his inclusion in the elite circle of four discoveries featured in the Grand Shell Discovery Art Exhibition in 1996. His style described as "representational" art would then bring him to China, Taiwan, New York, among others.

However, as paradoxical as it may sound, inconsolable grief over a tragedy in his family in 1999 would seemingly sap him dry of spirit and vigor that he found himself dropping his art altogether. He came to Cebu, wherein according to friends, he became a self-imposed incommunicado in the artist's circle. I was told that despite the "cloister," he was still sought-after internationally with works displayed up to 2005 in an art website based in Holland that tagged him as an "exclusive artist around the world."

His artistic aspirations would have continued to gather dust had he not met a Filipino friend who pushed him to pick up things where he left off. At long last, he shared his art, particularly to Cebuanos, during the 437th Anniversary of Cebu Province last year. People who saw his works could not believe that the fine detail in his paintings was really possible without even employing a brush.

I recently met Shane Lee upon the invitation of Mindanao State University (MSU) alumni Virgil Peñaflorida III and Paul John Ocaya, who is the Pinoy friend who proved instrumental in his comeback, to view his paintings at Tableya Choco Shoppe, a quaint cafe in corner Morales & Escario Streets. (I am not an alumna of MSU but I feel a certain affinity with the university having spent lengthy summers of my childhood in MSU Marawi.)

Shane told me that he feels incomparably "reborn" now that he is reunited with his first love. He's not just vigorously painting again, but he's dabbling in other forms like copper art. As for his paintings, the personal effect can be calm in some and unsettling in others, all of which, even so, have this stroke of dreamlike drama.

Good thing is he's not one to hold out on his techniques. Finger-painting is said to be the most ancient art form but is considered by many still unexplored-so the process should be interesting to watch if not learn yourself. To arrange such, you can call Virgil at 253-6465 for information.