English
Thai
Paulina Constancia is a Filipino-Canadian multimedia artist currently based in Singapore. During a recent family visit to Phuket, and as part of her travelling ‘The Moments of Motherhood’ exhibition, she got to show of her pieces at Gallery Cafe by Pinky, located in Yaowarat Road in Phuket Town. She is also the owner of The Paulina Constancia Museum of Naïve Art {also known as MoNA}, and is considered one of the most prolific and inspiring female artists in Cebu.
Paulina was kind enough to take some time-out from her holiday to answer a few questions for us about herself, her art, and MoNA:
Is art your trained profession?
I have a degree in Mass Communication and I’m a certified ESL teacher. As to art-related training, I was briefly in a Fashion Design program in LA and Sculpture Program at the Academy of Art in San Francisco. However, prior to attending art school I was already exhibiting. Somehow my two areas of learning have influenced my life pursuit of being a multimedia communicator (I use whatever medium to communicate the message best)
Can you tell us about your exhibition here in Phuket and how you came about showing it here?
The Moments of Motherhood {MOM} is a travelling exhibition and has already been shown in Indonesia, Japan and now Thailand. My family decided to visit Phuket on short notice and I thought why not do a show while we’re on holiday. So I researched the internet for ‘cool places and spaces in Phuket’ and chanced upon the Gallery Cafe by Pinky. Luckily, Pinky welcomed the idea even though she was still in the process of moving to her new location on Yaowarat Road.
And how about your Stewardship program/Museum of naïve Art?
The Paulina Constancia Museum of Naïve Art {also known as MoNA} in Cebu, Philippines is part of West Gorordo Hotel’s cultural stewardship program. It is a means to showcase, share and protect local art and culture. The museum opened its doors just last May 2013. Through the museum and its program, West Gorordo Hotel provides the opportunity for Cebu locals and visitors to rekindle their connectedness with themselves, with each other and with nature. For example, every year on or around May 18 (which is International Museum Day) the MoNA organizes a Heritage festival in which locals and visitors can learn more about their own culture and meet Cebu locals and visitors in a more creative and interactive setting. In this day and age, people either just hang out in the mall or on the internet.
Who or what inspires your work?
I am inspired by my own experiences. My collections/series are like chapters of my life. So they are very intimate topics, close to my heart. For example, this MOM collection is like a visual diary of my precious moments with my son Lucas. Although the child in the picture may not always be his same gender or age, but I try to capture the essence of our togetherness.
Do you work as a full time artist? If so, how did you get to where you are now/If not, how often you spend time being creative?
Yes, I am a full time artist. But as I said I am a multi-media communicator (communication artist). So I may not always be painting. I may be teaching, blogging, crafting or writing poetry and stories.
How did I get to where I am now? I’d say by welcoming change and responding to the call of the times. Life doesn’t always turn out as we’d like it to or as planned. If life throws us lemons, we can choose to be feel ‘sour’ & ‘sad’ but we can also say hurray now I can make lemonade or marmalade or perhaps a lemon pie?
Have you ever experienced an artist block and if so, how have you dealt with it?
The great Pablo Picasso once said “Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working.”
I’d like to rephrase that as it is the same philosophy that I live by.. I just start working and inspiration finds me.
Because I am a communicator at heart everything for me starts with a message. The medium of expression is just secondary. So for as long as there is a message to be delivered I do not experience a ‘block’.
What boosts your creativity the most?
Life challenges – my own and those of the people I meet.
Is it important to you that others like your artwork?
It is not so much liking as it is being able to ‘relate’ to the work (which as I said earlier is a mere chapter of my life). I am happiest when people who see my work come to me to say ‘I have experienced this myself’, ‘this is exactly how I feel’. If I am able to make people become better in touch with their own emotions and feel that they are not alone in the world, then I can go home happy knowing that I have touched somebody’s life.
Do you think of art as therapeutic?
Yes, indeed. That’s why everybody needs some form of art/creative outlet in their life. Emotions are energy that need to be released. Joy, pain, rage, whatever you have—it can be better expressed creatively.
How do you know when your artwork is good enough to show to the world?
You mean ‘ready’ to be shared? They are ready when they are able to communicate the message that I need to deliver.
Do you have a new project in the pipeline and if so will you be bringing it to Phuket again?
I have to get back to my writing so as soon as I have completed the Moments of Motherhood Traveling Exhibition (last stop is Cebu in May in time for MoNA’s heritage festival). I intend to get started with a new collection of short stories. If the opportunity presents itself to return to Phuket to share my work I will welcome it.
Phuketindex.com would like to thank Paulina for her time and we hope that she will return to Phuket with a new exhibition in the very near future.
