Stella Tansengco-Schapero

"Ondoy: New Beginnings"

Hong Kong artist, Stella Tansengco-Schapero is a Filipina of Chinese descent. She recently presented her work at a solo show “Art Without Borders” at the Ayala Museum in Makati, Philippines. Stella creates mixed media collages/assemblages, balancing images and works of favorite artists with antique and craft finds and other found objects. Her early works evoke the colors and textures of Orientalism and mid-19^th to early-20^th century Asia. The composites reflect a multi-cultural Philippines, with its strong Spanish, American, Chinese and Islamic influences, and a nostalgia for old Asia built up during Stella’s many years in New York and London. Her recent work has a social realism streak addressing social and political concerns in the Philippines, always with wit and underpinned by a strong optimism that better times are coming.

Stella’s show opened just before Typhoon Ondoy (Tropical Storm Ketsana) struck Manila and dumped more than a month's worth of rain in 12 hours. Another powerful storm, Pepeng (Parma), pummeled Northern Luzon shortly after. The government’s unpreparedness for these disasters and the slow rescue and relief response have reignited a call for change – timely given presidential elections in May 2010.

One of the first assemblages to sell was “BAHAY: NEW BEGINNINGS”, which highlights both the pain and the promise of floods (“BAHA” in Filipino) through images of houses (“BAHAY”). It shows devastation through early 20^th c. postcards of flooded Manila streets and houses on stilts, and determination to start over with an image of the Filipino practice of “bayanihan” and green shoots nurtured by the floodwaters. Here the community helps move the presidential palace, Malacanang, to a new location.

“ONDOY: NEW BEGINNINGS” features six pieces created after Ondoy and Pepeng. They echo the clamor for change and a new beginning. The works were inspired by photos taken during Ondoy. The gallery and the artist will donate 100% of art sales proceeds to a vetted Philippine charity to assist in the resettlement of some families displaced by Ondoy and Pepeng.

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