Art in Isolation

Reynold de la Cruz uses art as a coping mechanism and uses it to turn away from the negativities of the pandemic

- SC FOJAS

As the world went into lock-down in March, Reynold dela Cruz went to his studio and enteredto his own world. Six months later, he emerged with powerful pieces that should represents how he would cope in the pandemic.

“Artists have always been in lock down. Mas gusto naming nakakulong lang sa studio at matagal bago kami lumabas para bumili ng pintura at bigas (We prefer being locked up in the studio, going out only to buy paint and rice). My studio is like my library and my diary. Here, I am able to communicate with my pieces and it gives me peace—like a prayer room that witnesses everything I am going through,” he says.

His exhibit “Counterflow” are paintings of women facing calamities in, just like the woman in Deep Kiss, kissing the jawsof a skeleton, as if in acceptance of her fate. Behind her are bright pink flowers slowly fading into the background.For De la Cruz, this painting represents the way he looks at the current situation, that he needs to accept it no matter how dark and painful it may be.