Ode to Joy

"Avoid the schoolbook illustration of the subject!"

CEBU, Philippines - Thirteen-year-old Celina Paredes had to nail down this direction, from her father, in connection with her pursuit to take home the Macbook prize for a national T-shirt design competition initiated by "Artwork," a tenant at the Ayala Center Cebu.

The tilt dubbed "Happy Tees" had for a theme - "What makes you happy?"

Celina, a freshman at BRIGHT Academy in Banilad, has never won in any previous art contests in school having been trained by her father Radel Paredes (visual artist/writer/columnist/university instructor) to "avoid all the clichés" (handshake in the middle of a globe topped by cutout figures holding hands, and the like) which, according to Radel, "unfortunately often turned out to be exactly the winning formula."

With mind fixed on the Mac, Celina received from her parents Radel and Claire the P100 registration fee coupled with the reminder to "avoid the literal interpretation of the theme."

The training involved browsing of a book of paintings by Russian-born French painter Marc Chagall (born Moishe Shagal) famous for "dreamy scenes where people ride chickens, turn into violins, or soar over church towers" --- chimerical processions of memory where realistic and the imaginary elements were woven into a single legend. The images are said to be haunting, exuberant and poetic and which have wide appeal.

From Chagall's portfolio, Celina has drawn inspiration to compose scenes where one "feels the solemn mirth, the unbearable lightness that poets talk about, the sense of buoyancy that goes with certain music."

Celina points out that in the "Violinist", for example, flowers break free from the vase the moment the instrumentalist hit the keys.

As for "The Clown" (Acrylic on Canvas), it presents a storehouse of visual imagery that does not leap beyond the landscape of childhood. Celina takes it from Chagall that scenes of childhood provide this emotional charge so intense that once richly invested upon would discharge obsessive repetition of colors, shapes and sizes to suggest movements, planes and rhythms; flying images as if people have this "wind" in their heads, repertoire of quirky motifs - ghostly figure floating in the sky, elongated arms and legs of boys and girls defying gravity.

On the "Flight" canvas are random pictures of people soaring over landscapes in a topsy-turvy, slightly crazy world --- reminiscent of Chagall's contribution to contemporary art: the reawakening of poetry of representation, avoiding factual illustration on the one hand, and non-figurative abstractions on the other.

Celina's entry to the tilt, which depicted a girl levitating on her bicycle, was hand-painted in black and white using acrylic paints on the blank off-white shirt provided as canvas by Artwork. It carried the title "Joy Ride" which now belongs to Ms. Karen Flores Garcia, wife of Cebu third district Rep. Pablo John Garcia.

Though Chagall's compositions were governed by colors, Celina said that the attempt to present her entry in black and white is intertwined to the hope it might stand out or create a stirring visual impression for people to question: Where is happiness in all of this? And eventually impart the message that the world could look happy despite contrasts.

"She would have wanted to try it in bright colors, which is the default formula for happy paintings. But I challenged her to try the other way around, which is to turn drab gray to gay," Radel explained.

Chagall must have long approved this move, as it was learned that in his early years as an art student, he expressed that poring into someone else's drawing was "like watching a vision, a revelation in black and white."

From over a thousand participants nationwide, Celina's work was chosen as one of the semifinalists. Her entry was selected in the exhibition of winning works held at the Glorietta Mall in Manila last December. She belonged to the youngest age bracket.

The father-and-daughter tandem is staging the "Ode to Joy" Paintings & Prints exhibit from February 7-28 at the Diwata Galeri of Kukuk's Nest which has relocated in Nasipit, Talamban (adjacent to the Nasipit Commercial Complex).

Celina did a remake of her design on canvas using fast-drying and non-toxic acrylic paints presenting contrast and tones to suggest rhythm and harmony. On the gallery wall read: "The most obvious solution to the problem of monochromatic boredom is to use the patterns of the circus: checkered, stripes, polka dots, patchwork, etc. The result is visual irony: A world void of color yet strongly evocative of a small town perya or carnival."

The Chagall-inspired series of black-and-white paintings comes with a selection of Celina's collograph prints and her father's own abstract collage works. Her rendition in pen and ink of Michaelangelo's "Pieta" serves to rekindle a reply Chagall received from a schoolmate he questioned on how should he start learning how to draw --- "Go and find a book, choose any picture you like, and just copy it."

After her first show with her father, now expected to happen yearly, Celina is back to her violin lessons under the tutelage of Norwena Belocura (of the Sala Foundation).

"Ode to Joy", by the way, is an allusion to the great Beethoven whose concertos fill their home as Celina and her mom try to learn the violin. (FREEMAN)