LIFE CHANGING EVENT - HOW I TRANSLATE IT TO ABSTRACT ART

                    For the people who know me or would see me, the first thing they would notice about me is my hair. Yes, my long, curly, soft hair. They would ask me if I had gotten my hair done or if it is a perm. I would tell them “It’s just natural. I got it from my mother.” I would always smile at their envious reactions. After that they would ask me why I was growing my hair. I would just say that “It’s just nothing. I don’t know why I’m even doing it.” But they don’t know the real reason why I’m doing it.

Have you ever lost a loved one because of cancer? How old were you? How do you feel about that experience? Have you done something to help that person go through life normally? I’ve lost a few loved ones because of cancer. I was still a kid back then. I wasn’t even in my teenage years back then. And the worst thing about it is that I wasn’t able to do anything to help that person.

                In the summer of 2001, I lost my grandfather (mother’s side), Lolo Peryong, to lung cancer. I was just 9 years old back then. I didn’t really know who my Lolo was because we only get to see them every 2-3 years. I’ve had 2 or maybe 3 memories of him that I could remember. It was so sudden. He had been taken away from us. I couldn’t do anything to help him because they lived in Tacloban, Leyte and we lived in Davao. I didn’t even cry at his funeral because I wasn’t able to spend that much time with him when he was still alive. The emotion of grieving wasn’t there. I felt sad because I saw all of my relatives, especially my grandmother and mother, cry their eyes out. But now that I think about it, it brings me to tears that I wasn’t even able to tell my lolo that I love him. This was my first memorable experience.

                   Then next experience came in August of 2003. My grandfather (father’s side), Daddy, also gave in to cancer and heart disease. I was 11 years old. This relationship was very different. We were able to spend every summer, holidays, and even special occasions together. They lived in Marbel, Koronadal, South Cotabato which was just a 3-hour drive away from Davao. We were in Davao when we heard the news. The moment I heard my crying dad’s trembling voice, I cried my tears out. The last time I saw my grandfather, he was so healthy that he even went to swim with us. We were devastated that he was taken away from us. I also couldn’t do anything to help my grandfather. The feeling of losing someone you love very much is so heavy. This was another memorable experience for me.

My Brutalism translation for sorrow, anger, and uselessness.

The structure is small because it represents the lowest point in my life.

                        Another experience came 2 years ago when we received news that my Ninang Cherry had a stage 2 cancer. Thankfully she had surgery right away before anymore damage could be done. But the problem didn’t stop there. The doctors were considering chemotherapy for her if the results didn’t come out good. She was so scared that when she was talking on the phone with my father, I could hear her scared and sad crying voice. I knew at that moment that I had to do something for a loved one. I told her right away that I was going to do something for her, to help her. In the end, the results came out good and she didn’t have to go through chemotherapy anymore. But I knew that I still had to do something.

My Modernistic approach in showing feelings of change in myself. The left side of the abstract art is somewhat less arrange than the form on the right because I meant to show my transition from being useless to somebody who could do some good.

                        So when I graduated from high school and there were no haircut rules to be followed, I started growing my hair. My cousin from the United States knew this organization, the “Locks for Loves” organization in Florida, an organization that makes wigs for cancer survivors. They accept any hair donations from across the world. So when I grew my hair for a year, I was able to cut it and send it to my cousin, who then gave it to the organization. At that moment when I knew that I was finally going to be able to help somebody, I was so happy that all the bad memories of me not being able to help my loved ones out were gone. I knew that somewhere in the world, I was able to help somebody out. I know that wigs doesn’t help heal cancer, but it gives the survivors hope that it will be alright for them and that people would do anything to help them and make them feel alright. It gives them hope that no matter how cancer gives them a hard life, there will always be somebody there to help them get through it. I am proud of what I have done and I hope that this current hair that I am growing would be able to help out more people. Losing someone is hard, but losing someone and knowing that you couldn’t do anything to help him/her out is even harder.

My Robotic/Hi-Tech approach in showing feelings of happiness and excitement. It is like a spiral staircase because it means that I'm climbing to greater heights because of what I am doing (refer to story). It was also based on a comb (also connected to the story).