In celebration of International Women’s Month, Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corporation honors four women alumni of the Shell National Student Art Competition (NSAC) who shared their stories and insights in their journey to become the finest artists in the country today.
Rosario Bitanga-Peralta, Shell NSAC 1957 winner in the watercolor category and the country’s first woman abstractionist shared that self-realization and dedication to one’s art can mean throwing off some remnants of the past. “Earlier art was based on traditional, Western modes, with local adaptations and variations often misunderstood.
Today, art is more free, unlimited, and no longer holds on to traditional schools of thought but is more on self-inspiration,” she said.
Meanwhile, PintaPH founder and Shell NSAC 2013 grand prize winner Katrina Gosiengfiao is keen on developing a stronger art movement that can fuel “a country that is economically successful enough to fund its cultural and heritage conservation sector.” She echoes Bitanga-Peralta on the aptness of the timing as more “schools of traditional art are springing forth and taking the spotlight while Philippine traditional art becomes integrated into universities.”
Shell NSAC 1993 winner Mailah Baldemor-Balde has high hopes that the digital age would help like-minded artists connect with one another to collaborate and elevate Philippine art.
“Thanks to the help of social media and the Internet, artists can now connect to each other, and see and learn the new trends in art in a more spontaneous way. The themes and subject matters continue to be timely, like climate change and public health.”
Davao-based artist Vyankka Balasabas, the 3rd-place winner for her first stop-motion video in Shell NSAC 2015, was 14 years old when her father bought her a camera. “I would take pictures of myself in different moods, characters, and themes, and it made me learn how to convey ideas and put them into one image. At that point, I knew I wanted to pursue an art career.” Currently, Balasabas dabbles with creating crypto art that is focused on showing complexities of human emotions and fantasies.
One way to learn and improve is observing and interacting with Shell NSAC alumni.
Balasabas emphasizes the benefits of interaction and sharing among artists. She says that Shell NSAC alumni “are what they are today because of their persistence and support of each other. It is also important to connect and surround yourselves with artists alike.”
Baldemor-Balde affirms the life-changing opportunities that Shell NSAC has provided her as well as the promising, fulfilling journey it offers upcoming participants: “Shell NSAC helped me fulfill my dream. It gives young artists an opportunity to pursue the arts, and it challenges them and tests their artistic abilities.”
