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| Araceli Limcaco Dans opens a new art exhibit on 22 September to 04 October 2016 at Ayala Museum's ArtistSpace, Ayala Museum Annex, Makati Avenue corner Dela Rosa Streets from Monday to Sunday 10am to 7pm. Entrance is free. |
Calado is a form of Philippine embroidery design used in traditional Filipino dresses (see picture above). As a child, I was fascinated with the detailed painting rendition of the fabric design that I later found out were the works of Araceli Limcaco Dans. I have remembered her name since, especially since my former ballet teacher, National Artist Leonor Orosa Goquingco, also appreciated her talent.
The U.P. Sigma Delta Phi Alumnae Association is sponsoring an art exhibit titled "Ang Mundo ni Inay" to feature the paintings and paper sculptures of Araceli Limcaco Dans. The Philippine General Hospital Sagip Buhay Medical Foundation, Inc. is a beneficiary of this project.
Fortunately, I had the opportunity to ask Araceli Limcaco Dans a few questions, with the help of her grandson Carlo Isidoro. Sharing our online correspondence here:
You are well known for the intricate calado design in your paintings. How did you get started doing that particular artwork?
How did I start the calado? I began primarily as a portrait painter. I loved painting portraits. Most of my portraits looked like the persons who posed for me. I never used photographs, and I always tried to inject the character of the sitter. I enjoyed commissions from painting portraits.
But the time came when people who commissioned me wanted me to make their portrait look 20 years younger or even 20 pounds thinner. I looked for a venue to vent my frustration. I discovered several Filipino artists from the turn of the century who were home grown. Ysidro Arceo, Antonio Malantic, and Simon Flores to name a few. They painted ordinary people around them clothed in baro at saya, maria clara, camisa de chino and barong tagalog. What impressed me the most was their clothing. Their clothes showed the transparency of piña cloth, jusi or sinamai, and the floral calado embroidery were delicate and exquisite.
How many years have you been doing calado paintings?
I started doing the calado series around the mid-80's, so about 30 years ago.
Has it evolved over time or do you stick with the same patterns?
Through time my patterns from drawing still life became inventions from imagination to avoid monotony.
What got you into paper sculptures?
I've always wanted to do sculpture, but the different sources were too cumbersome.
Do you now spend more time sculpting or painting?
I just recently went into sculpture which i also paint. So i did both simultaneously.
Why did you choose motherhood as a theme for this exhibit?
I chose motherhood as a theme because i have 10 children and forty grandchildren, many of them also became mothers.
Any insights you would like to share on motherhood?
Whatever you planted in your child since birth, you will harvest in later years.
Do you have some advice for artists who wish to follow in your footsteps?
My advice to other artists is to use your own experience, your own environment. Dig into your soul as you do your art. Make sure your work communicates with people from all walks of life.
At this point in your artistic career, is there anything else that you plan to try?
Yes I want to share my new experience of using paper pulp by teaching others. The medium is not expensive, it is therapeutic and it can be developed into usable objects or museum pieces and it can develop into an industrial enterprise.
How would you sum up your life as artist and mother?
Most of us undergo various hardships and problems in life. Serenity and peace come with it alternately as we learn from our mistakes.
From our past experiences, as we develop love and understanding and forgiveness, we can depart from this world lightly, without carrying any baggage to join our maker.
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Here are two masterpieces by Araceli Limcaco Dans sculpting paper clay. Interested parties can join the Buyers' Night on 21 September 2016 Wednesday at ArtistSpace in Makati.
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| "Araw ng Linggo" |
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| "Dumaan ang Parada" |
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Sharing a few exhibit notes here:
Araceli Limcaco Dans exhibit depicts Filipino women as both feminine and brave
The Araceli Limcaco Dans art exhibit titled “Ang Mundo ni Inay” runs until 04 October 2016 at Ayala Museum’s ArtistSpace in Makati.
It is a celebration of motherhood that embodies Dans’ own life having raised ten children. The catalogue reads:
“Ang Mundo ni Inay explores the core of the Filipino feminine. Dans continues the rhetoric in the same tradition, but through her own eyes and experience of having laboriously reared her own brood of ten children.”
Dans captured mother and child in different situations, usually nurturing the young or putting them to sleep. These images were constructed in both acrylic on canvas and paper clay sculpture.
“These visual and tactile elements work together to construct a vision of motherhood that is idealized, fearless, and contemplative – whilst also celebrating the valor of the foremost feminine figure, the Mother.”
Another acrylic painting called “Pagkatapos ng Ulan” (After the Rain) provided symbols of a mother’s strength.
“Pagkatapos ng Ulan, on the other hand, features a stark contrast of a finely woven piece of lace against a clump of brown crumbling leaves; it presupposes the aftertmath. The lace is left undamaged and unscarred after a storm, suggesting the triumph of one’s inner strength against the challenges of adversity.”
One of the highlights of the exhibit is an acrylic on paper painting called “Panuelo ni Eva” (The shawl of Eve). The two-piece painting is “the work of a master in her own craft: exquisite, luxurious, rich in fine texture of the pina cloth Dans arduously paints. Yet behind all the refinement, the viewer is urged to take a closer look at the shrouded misery and grief of innocent faces: children as victims of violence, surreptitiously hidden in the folds and creases, clouded from the eyes of society.”
National Artist Leonor Orosa Goquingco was reported to have said this: “You are floored by the Dans paintings, stunned…Whether by man or woman, these paintings are perfection itself, the epitome of elegance. And they, and the painter as well, are destined for immortality.”
