Painting with chocolate

CEBU, Philippines – Before the mass production of creative mediums like gesso and lacquer fixatives, artists weren’t only responsible for capturing beauty into the canvas, they also had to blend their own pigments and paints.

Utilizing pigments made with egg yolk (tempera) or paints derived from herbal extracts, resins and oils, the creative process prior to the widespread availability of paints in tubes wasn’t just about what an artist envisioned to create – it was also about what an artist used to complete a work.

This not-often-discussed aspect of the visual arts field was the underlying theme of a recent arts gathering, which harped on the use of chocolate as a visual arts medium.

Dubbed “Beyond Chocolate: Chocolate on Canvas,” the event drew art patrons of all ages to the main activity area of Robinsons Galleria Cebu last Sunday, June 25.

The event participants used a cacao-derived watermedia base to craft art on canvas. The medium brought attention to the challenges faced by artists of the past while, at the same time, shedding some light on the versatile uses of the cacao. Given the base’s dark umber shade and viscosity, the resulting arts were mostly etchings and lithographic works, although there were also those participants that turned in modernist-themed works blending neutrals with dark shades to create illusions of depth.

The ‘chocolate’ event also presented novel uses of various parts of the cacao tree –footwear made with cacao appliqués, home fixtures and furnishings finished with cacao leaves, cacao-based handmade soap and more. Cebu’s “Chocolate Queen” Raquel Toquero-Choa spearheaded the event.