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"And
the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground,
"In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread There is nothing more basic than earth. We spring up from it, we walk on it, we are sustained by it, and we return to it. All of life is based on earth, and in the end we become part of it again. Dadai Joaquin is aware of the outlandishness of her medium. But it is precisely this oddness that draws her to use earth for her paintings. After years of dabbling in oil, watercolor and pastel and producing dozens of half-finished works, Dadai discovered soil and realized she had found her medium. It was, in her own words, a two-way epiphany: finally, artist and medium found each other. From then on Dadai has worked furiously, transferring the passions she has hidden in her heart onto canvas. She chooses simple forms and solitary figures, eschewing realism and instead focusing on the emotions behind each painting. The grittiness of her medium lends itself well to the stark realities of her soul. The result is a body of work that reflects the turmoil inside her heart and mind: feelings of loneliness, hopelessness, desperation, and longing fill every piece. Each painting, each baring of her soul, has an almost unbearable angst that one not so much sees as feels. Read Rowena C. Burgos' article about Dadai, "Earthy Art", Philippine Daily Inquirer, July 14th, 2002.
Photos by Roland Jumawan. |
