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ILMA ARTS.com

ILMA ARTS STUDIO

July 1, 2010

Volume 1, Issue 1   

Two decades of hunting and capturing vignettes of life using cameras, pens, paints and brushes was the lifestyle I lived in Manila.  I found it a welcome shift and an overpowering experience to leave the Philippines and migrate to Canada. My first marriage to an Orangeville resident in 2004 paved the way for my flight and plight to Orangeville in 2005.  I never thought   that I will experience Culture Shock as explained in the Immigration Seminar I attended before leaving my country of origin.   Having had vast experiences in the fields of Theatre, Visual Arts, Literature and Drama, I didn’t have a clue what was awaiting me in Canada. I thought that with my skills and experiences and fluency in speaking and writing the English language, I could override the culture shock. I was in for a surprise.

     It was a huge leap of faith to leave Manila (a city that holds the entire Canada population of 30 million) and come to Orangeville (a town that holds a 30 thousand populace). From a 300,000 sq km to a large spacious area of   9,984,640 sq km, one could only imagine how overwhelming it was for me that first night I set foot at the Toronto Airport. It was exhilarating and exciting to see snow for the first time and shovel it coming from a place with a constant climate of 36- 45 degrees Celsius. My first marriage didn’t turn out as I expected it to be.  Dealing with a difficult marriage and adapting to the cultural changes posed major conflicts in continuing my Art. Not having Canadian experience was another source of impediment to further move on with my career. Days went on and the restrictions posed by all these factors made me lose 15 pounds in less than a year. It consumed my life. For the first time, I experienced depression. Leaving behind an 18 year old son in the Philippines was one of the most painful events I ever experienced. I had to struggle to establish myself to get my only family to join me here in Canada.  I had to take any job for the sake of reuniting with my son. I worked at fast-food places, factory, coffee shop, even cleaning services just to earn minimum income.

     The inevitable happened. Culture Shock took over my life. I found myself crying and missing and recalling how it was when I was appreciated as a teacher and artist. I died inside. I would do anything to be with my son and be surrounded with friends and relatives. I found it very difficult to find time to paint or sketch but the camera became my best friend. There were buses, jeepneys and taxis 24/7 anywhere in Manila.  I didn’t have to drive or own a car and always had a sense of freedom to move around. There is one bus that goes around my area in Orangeville. I have to walk a kilometre to get to the bus stop. If I am late, I wait another 30 minutes for the next trip which is brutal in the winter time. I grabbed opportunities to shoot and capture Orangeville during my long walks to town if I don’t make it to the bus schedule. Being diagnosed with emphysema after two years became another source of limitation to having long walks, especially in the winter.

     I started drawing and painting again after I finally got out of the difficult marriage and finally got my son to join me. After selling 400 artworks out of my 800 collection in two decades of art career in Manila, creativity slowly got its way back in my life. I create fusions of colors and lines that dance and generate rhythm. Spontaneity in color choice is apparent in the foliage and figure abstractions I paint. My sketches look like convergences of swirly and straight lines that built shapes, textures and tones. I see varying perspective to a subject. Capturing the moment is what drives me to take pictures. Subjects in motion and play of natural light on an object pose challenges to me as a photographer. It gives me a rush when I can capture and beat the movement that goes along with it and enables me to narrate the story of my subject in a captured moment.

     I am showcasing more than 50 artworks of abstractions, street and architectural drawings and photographs of the Hills of the Headwaters, particularly Orangeville. My debut exhibit in Canada titled “Catharsis.” Catharsis means release of emotions through creative activity. Emotions move and inspire me to create. Culture Shock inspired Catharsis Exhibit.

CULTURE SHOCK INSPIRES CATHARSIS EXHIBIT by Ilma