This National Arts Month, we highlight Filipino art through Quaderno's Page Talk—a platform where we converse with the extraordinary talents shaping the present and future of Philippine art.
Beth Parrocha has a heart for storytelling, and picture books are her canvas. The UP Fine Arts graduate and founding member of Ang Ilustrador ng Kabataan creates whimsical illustrations to celebrate how the world unfolds its wonder in the eyes of a child.
Loved | watercolor, oil, pastel, and colored pencil (2019)
In today's Page Talk, Looking for Juan chats with the multi-awarded children's book illustrator to talk about her craft, creative inspiration, and the role of the Filipino artist in today's uncertain climate.
What inspires/motivates you to create?
"What makes me want to breathe, to eat, to move is the same thing as that which makes me want to create. I do not exist to create. I create so I can properly exist".
What does your art represent?
"My art represents a search for the nature of that which I call myself; to the link between me and that which created me."
Turn The Page, Please | watercolor and pencil (2021)
How can art influence change?
"Change is the very nature of art. From a blank canvas, a figure appears. From a piece of clay, stone, or wood, a form."
What's the role of Filipino artists in this time of misinformation, division, and pandemic?
"The role of the Filipino artist in this time of misinformation, division, and pandemic is to be true to oneself, whatever truth that might be. Art is your language, and if you do not use it to express yourself truly, then you are simply a tool for somebody else."
As I Am, Arising | gouache on paper (2020)
Inspired by Beth Parrocha's art? Support Philippine art while you write with Quaderno by Beth Parrocha, featuring four limited-edition notebooks designed in collaboration with the artist, created to find a renewed appreciation for Philippine art, probe ideas, and express yourself creatively.
