Paris

As a young boy growing up in Philippines I was first introduced to the idea of Paris through the great heroes Jose Rizal and Juan Luna , who as young men, visited Paris to pursue their various intellectual, artistic and academic interests and grew to be the famous characters that all citizens aspired to emulate including young hopefuls like myself who wished to travel the world in search of meaning and learning. As a teenage immigrant to the United States I saw Paris through my love of foreign films and fell in love with the music of the language, and the beauty of the French culture. As an art student in Chicago my studies took me through the vast influences of myriad artists experiences in Paris and it’s movements and further encouraged my fantasies of one day living in Paris.

My story like many stories in Paris is one of love. I met my wife of over 20 years on the Pont des Arts in 2002, at a Shakespeare and Company social, and the relationship was set on fire by Paris and it’s many beautiful wonders. I followed my love to Brazil and have since become a father and feel immensely blessed to live my dream as an artist/painter who has thrived in the most inspiring environments.

I credit my time in my tiny bohemian flat in Rue de Birague two decades ago, to much of my creative forces, my mind always returning to that “Moveable Feast” throughout my constant travels and endeavors. I was inspired to return to the city of lights by a terminal condition of a dear friend and decided to make haste to see him and use the visit as a bucket list to return to my beloved Paris and give back to the city who has given me the greatest love story of my life. I may seem very naïve to speak of Paris this way but one must create your own stories, and it was a very conscious and serious dream of mine to actually manifest some of the very best work I’ve done so far there.

The pandemic drew out much fear of ever traveling and seeing the world again, but that didn’t stop my mind from walking the endless streets of Paris, listening to the music of the language in my ears, and remembering the endless inspiration that unfolded day by day. Last year I had prepared a collection of paintings dedicated to the love story I had there and my love for Paris. The title was “ Optical Symphony” . Through my use of a variety of mixed media and immense pleasure/painstaking detail, I planned on exaggerating and exploiting all the manic energies of Parisian glamour and magic into a multitude of resplendent canvases for the time that was given for me to create in the most beautiful of cities.

My life’s work is a statement to the beauty and energy of environments. Of the forces present in both nature and the machine that can be used to heal and transform vision to tangible vessels and new artifacts for the viewer. It was my humble hope to return once again through the gates of that shining cite’ to show Paris the ardent and faithful dedication of my craft, and manifest fully the fruits of that labor. I’m happy to have had that chance with my family to reconnect and recharge the magic.

A plús.