Sun, sand, sea — and art — in Boracay
The summer vibe of Boracay island was mixed with artistic flair last Friday when artist Christine Sioco launched “Inamorata,” a one-woman exhibit of 15 artworks, at the Crimson Resort and Spa Boracay.
Christine is the third artist-in-residence to be featured by Crimson Boracay for its “Heart of Creativity” program (from November 2023 to May 2024), where the featured artist teaches art appreciation and painting among the guests of the resort and many student residents of the island.
Held from Wednesday to Saturday, these art sessions are meant to help resort guests bring out their creative side even while they’re on holiday. The morning sessions are devoted to children’s classes, while the afternoon sessions are for 13-year-old participants and older. The resort provides the art materials.
“The workshop is beginner-friendly,” says Christine. “It’s a guided session. It’s not daunting. You don’t get lost.” She adds that the themes painted by the participants focus mostly on Boracay’s sun, sand, sea and glorious sunset. Of course, every beautiful nook and cranny of Crimson Boracay is prominent also in the participants’ artworks.
With her “Inamorata” exhibit in time for the celebration of Women’s Month, Christine shows the tenacity and triumphs of Filipino women, especially those who work abroad. She was once an OFW in Dubai working at a children’s entertainment center. When the owner of the center changed the video game arcade to a painting studio, Christine rose to the occasion to use her artistry.
Then the pandemic happened and Christine lost her job. She did not leave Dubai and remotely designed shirts with mermaid themes for a US-based company. In the swim of things, so to speak, she bobbed up and down in the uncertainties of the time. She survived. Even more, she survived when eventually she became an illustrator for Pierre Cardin and other establishments in the Middle East.
“Her experiences are mirrored in her artworks that are powerfully feminine and exquisitely capture the struggles and triumphs of the Filipino working overseas,” says Ronie Reyes, Crimson director of marketing and communications. “Christine Sioco brings a truly unique point of view and a therapeutic touch to the Heart of Creativity at Station Zero of the island.”
Flowers and foliage are present in her expressionist-surrealist works. In “Eve,” elements of nature are etched on the canvas in colorful acrylic — they seem to be alive, pulsating, at once arresting and calming. At the center of the canvas is a maiden with a gaze that captures the soul.
Christine’s “Delilah” sends a strong message of empowerment in a delicate world where love and freedom are conduits in creating a solid individuality. The ability of a woman to submit herself to the tenderness of her soul when presented with true love is present in her “Sobh Bekhair Joonam.”
“I paint and sculpt flowers so they won’t die; I have fallen in love with the boldness and fragility (of things),” she tells The STAR, describing her artworks in exhibition. Those are the words of an artist inspired by the immortal works of iconic Mexican artist Frida Kahlo.
Christine splashes exquisite details on her canvases with vibrant colors and thought-provoking imagery. The Oriental Mindoro native also creates delicate-looking bas reliefs depicting mythical figures.
She has been influenced by those mythical figures all her life, perhaps because in the days when she was hungry, they figured prominently on her vision board.
“When I was a kid, I couldn’t afford art materials,” says Christine, who, after a stint at the Philippine High School for the Arts inside UP Los Baños in Laguna, earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Technological University of the Philippines in 2005. She would later gain undergraduate credits in sculpture from the University of the Philippines. “Still, I became an artist against all odds.”
“When I was a kid, I did doodles around the house,” she continues. “I was already doodling long before I could walk and talk. I am the only artist among my siblings.”
Her early appreciation for the arts was born out of her curiosity to observe the drawings of her aunt, who was a dressmaker. But it was in the salon of her other aunt, a hairdresser, where she explored her juvenile artistry.
“When I was a kid, my mom, a teacher, would leave me to the care of my other aunt, who was a hairdresser, before she went to school. There were photos in the salon; I would stare at them. Next thing I knew, I was already drawing at the back of calendars using the photos as my inspiration. I used a ballpen to draw. But many times, I used my mother’s lipstick to create my drawings. That’s why my mom and my aunts would hide their lipstick from me when I was a kid,” recalls Christine, laughing.
In time, she combined different artistic techniques to create her magnificent bas-relief pieces and brilliant sculptural canvases. Her artistry presents a strong point of view characterized by a studied mix of feminine delicateness, the resilience of the overseas Filipino worker, and the storied lore of local myth and legend, particularly that of her home province.
Her works have been featured not only domestically, but also at exhibitions in Singapore and Dubai. More recently, one of her early acrylic-on-canvas pieces from 2013, “Breaking the Invisible Chain,” was among the artworks auctioned at Leon Gallery last year.
With Christine Sioco as the artist-in-residence at Crimson Boracay, the island boasts not only balmy summer breezes but also the strength and tenderness of a woman.
For your new beginnings, e-mail me at [email protected]. I’m also on Twitter @bum_tenorio and Instagram @bumtenorio. Have a blessed weekend.
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