pure artistry

Leoniel Cerbas and his winning piece 'Pugad'.

Leoniel Cerbas and ‘Pugad’

By Kathy M. Villalon (www.thenewstoday.info)

“But I don’t want to be an individual who will stay hopeless,” he said, thus he focuses on doing good in school as well as on being artist. His commission works have helped a lot in improving his life.

“Pugad” earned young Ilonggo artist Leoniel Cerbas, 23, the second place in the Metrobank Art and Design Excellence National Competition 2009.

The oil on canvas piece shows the characteristics of a poor family – a big family sharing one sleeping space, meaning, the floor of the living room, together with their pets and some insects feasting on the unwashed dining plates.

A critic stated this about Leoniel’s work: “The sprawl of bodies, seemingly spilled on the slatted bamboo floor, sucks up the air in the constricted pictorial space. Exhausted, devoured by deep sleep, this human array of visages, torsos and extremities, jumbled together and displayed to the voyeuristic eyes of the artist, exemplifies horror vacui, or a fear of empty spaces. Indeed, whatever breathing space there could have been usurped by the family’s domestic pets, a dog and a cat huddled together with their masters in companionable domestic bliss. The image derives from the artist’s own personal experience. Growing up in poverty in his Iloilo hometown, Leoniel Cerbas transforms his memories of a deprived upbringing into a raw and bruising subject matter for his art.”

“I came from a poor family. My mother accepts sewing jobs while my father was once a security guard but because of health reasons, is no longer working. I have five siblings and I’m the second child. I am also the breadwinner of the family.” He sidelines in making streamers, T-shirts and other artworks. “Through my work as an artist, I was able to send myself to school. I help my siblings in their schooling as well. Our eldest is now a graduate of Hotel and Restaurant Management and based in Manila,” Leoniel said. “My artwork was inspired by what I’ve seen around me,” he added.

“But I don’t want to be an individual who will stay hopeless,” he said, thus he focuses on doing good in school as well as on being artist. His commission works have helped a lot in improving his life.

Also, his determination on becoming a better artist and his real life experience has helped him get a top spot in the competition. The money he won from the competition was used to repair their house as well as buy the things that he need.

Leoniel’s art style borders on socio-realism. “I want to impart certain issues through my works,” he said.

Leoniel is a fourth year Architecture student of Western Visayas College of Science and Technology and a member of the Tatsulok Artisans.

(Leonil Cerbas is one of the pioneer members of Kuris animation Unlimited, the second batch of Ilonggo animators trained by TESDA Animation course that created the BEQUEST: Origin of Dinagyang, first Ilonggo animated short film shown at SM Cinema last January २००८)