LIV TO TELL ] Liv Vinluan on her first one-woman show

"Emotion is a big thing for me in my works," says Liv. "I constantly ask myself' how would it be like to be in their shoes, and try to draw from that and develop an idea." He Spoke, And It Was Written In The Sky, 2009, 5 ft by 7ft, oil on canvas

We saw Liv Vinluan defend her graduating thesis last March at the UPFA, and tonight she holds court at the Tall Gallery of Finale Art File for her first solo show. "It is extremely nerve-racking to be on your own," Liv tells us. "Before this it was usually a group show, and I guess, you have a bit more space to relax and just let it be. But this was very different. I was on my own and the space wasn't just some space--it's (Finale) a huge, wide, tall place! I had to tell myself, 'Ok, this ain't a joke.'" The exhibit, called "No Earthly Lord Will Bleed You Dry," includes the works from her thesis and new ones that carry on the theme of history and devastation.

How does she know if a piece is done/when she's done with a piece? "When I want to move on to making the next one." Quite The Beast Beauty's Become", 2009, 6 ft by 4 ft, oil on canvas


The last six months was spent working on the show, preceded by a month spent just "lolling about" thinking of what she wanted to say and how to say it. She knew she still wanted it to echo the motif of the works she showed the defense panel last March. The Ondoy tragedy which happened halfway through completing the works, had a huge impact on the artist. "After that, you just really get a really clearer sense of things. Art-wise, ideas were clearer too. I knew now that I wanted to delve more into catastrophe, what people do to get through and survive--and how far one goes to survive. Most of the time we forget who we are, and we become animals along the way."

"Ninety-percent of the time really, the works are about other people, and what they've been through." My Faith Was Never Yours (from the artist's thesis, Sin Verguenzas), 9 ft by 6 ft, oil on canvas


Liv Vinluan's No Earthly Lord Will Bleed You Dry is curated by Leo Abaya, and will be on show at the Tall Gallery of the Finale Art File in Pasong Tamo, Makati until December 31.