Milk and tea with Marrie Saplad

Super-talented artist Rose Marrie Saplad staged her second solo exhibition titled “Milk and Tea” at the Art Cube Gallery.

Her show featured a collection of paintings that portray monochromatic illustrations of milk, tea, and glass that communicate the concepts of “transparency, innocence, and meditation.” Marrie’s works in the “Milk and Tea” exhibition explored the contrast of light, dark, and shadow in opaque and clear objects.

For Marrie, the transparency of the glass symbolizes clarity, openness, and simplicity. Milk represents a child’s innocence and pureness of intention, while the tea suggests something to think about, or something to look forward to.

Her simple yet straightforward execution in her paintings highlighted the boldness of the color white in her milk and teabag illustrations, and carried out an illusion of depth and transparency whether in light or dark backgrounds. Her emphasis on the subject’s details lures and captivates any viewer’s attention.

Marrie is a self-taught contemporary visual artist known for her minimalist, monochromatic style. Her still-life themes feature familiar, mundane objects in white and black backgrounds. I first noticed her realistic and monochromatic pieces about four years ago when she was still joining group shows.  Every time I’d see a piece and inquire about her work, it had already been reserved or sold.

She started her first series of works in 2017 with her still-life compositions that depicted transparent glass bottles on white surfaces and pieces of linen. Since her conception of her sculpture series, her subjects have evolved into the glass series, the hanky series, and her current teabag series. She is married to fellow visual artist Pong Bayog.

Creating the recent pieces for her “Milk and Tea” show was never easy for her because of the lockdown. As mentioned by her manager, Derek Flores of DF Art Agency, it has been very challenging for Marrie to juggle finishing all her time-consuming and very detailed works while taking care of her two daughters, especially since one of them is immuno-compromised.

It was unfortunate that the show did not open publicly and people were not able to see Marrie’s beautiful artworks due to the current situation. Once again, I attempted to get one of her works but again, all were already sold.

I am looking forward to seeing more of Marrie’s works and hope that people can already attend and see them all of them in person. For now, be amazed at her works here.

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