Symbolism at its Finest

 

October 5, 1987

Essay 37. SYMBOLISM AT ITS FINEST

By Arnaldo Bernabe Mirasol

Goddesses, nymphs, and other nature deities are recurrent motifs in art. Venus, Diana, Athena, and an assortment of nymphs and fairies have been painted countless times by European artists. WENCYL BUENAFE MALLARI, an upcoming Filipina artist from Tarlac chose nature goddesses too as the primary motif of her art.

Wencyl was born on October 5, 1987. She grew up in a home where art is loved and encouraged. The fourth child of Corazon Buenafe and Ambrosio Mallari, Wencyl was tutored since childhood by his father who is also an artist. Wencyl began drawing when she was nine years old. When she finished high school, she spent a year studying painting. She learned then and mastered the use of oil and other painting mediums.

In 2004, DTI-Central Luzon sponsored an exhibition of Wencyl's and her father's paintings in Intramuros, Manila. That same year, she was invited to be the guest in a local tv show, The Focus, where she was interviewed to serve as inspiration to other aspiring artists.

Wencyl entered college in 2005. She took up Architecture at the Tarlac State University, where she began to actively join art competitions, winning some and almost winning others. Her biggest triumph was her winning the Grand Prize in the oil painting category of the Vision Petron National Painting Competition in 2015. Prior to that, she was  runner-up four times in the same competition. She placed second in the Tropa National Painting Competition in 2015, and in the Tarlac 4th National Painting Competition in 2020. Wencyl also won the 3rd Prize in the East Art Award Galal Kalalangan Aslagan Painting Competition, also in 2020. In the ALVEO National Painting Competition in 2015 and 2018, Wencyl was Jurors' Choice and Finalist. The last competition she joined in 2020, where she was also a Finalist, was the ARTablado National Painting Competition.

In 2011, Wencyl and her father were hired by Theme Builders Philippines to do the interiors and murals for their project in Donetsk, Ukraine. Nothing surprising about her going international because Wencyl's paintings do exude an international aura. Wencyl admits to being influenced by Anna Halldin Maule and David Gray, who are among the main proponents today of hyperrealism. Although she admires both artists, Wencyl is fascInated more by the art of Maule, not only because of its emphasis on lone figures of women, but also because of its surrealist trappings.

Representative of Maule's surrealist works is her painting of a naked woman whose head is about to be enveloped by hovering butterflies. Wencyl sought to emulate that painting and yet at the same time strove to distance herself from it. This she did by painting in lieu of butterflies - or hair - flowers, swans, and corals, emanating from her women's heads. This is symbolism at its finest, because the images clearly convey the message that these women are goddesses who protect the seas, lakes, and forests. Strong and nurturing women, Wencyl believes that these goddesses, mythical though they are, are the real embodiment of the feminine spirit. Wencyl aspires to be identified with them. But for the meantime, Wencyl is pretty contented with just being almost the equal of her idol Maule in terms of painting skill and richness of imagination.