By Karen Galarpe
The Daily Tribune, August 1, 2000, p. 23
“May mga bagay na hindi ko ma-explain (There are things that I cannot explain),” so confessed Inday Cadapan, painter and sculptor. She said she cannot, for example, explain how she comes up with the women figures in her bright gay watercolors. She cannot explain how one continuous line becomes the contours of a shapely woman in her works. She cannot put into words how a piece of molave wood, rescued from old houses, can tell her how to sculpt a smooth torso. They just become what they are.
“Instinct at feelings ang ginagamit ko (I use instinct and feelings),” the 60-year-old artist said. “I believe in instinct. In my paintings, I have no idea what I will do. They all come as surprises,” she added.
Looking back, it was instinct that brought Inday to where she is today. After more than a decade of antique dealing, Inday ventured into art in the ’80s by picking up a brush and giving full vent to her thoughts, hopes and frustrations on canvas. With no formal lessons in art, Inday just started with what she felt and what she has seen in art books and in the works of her artist friends in Mabini. One of those early works, Inang Bayan, even landed as cover of Panorama magazine during those tumultuous EDSA days.
Those first cubist works in oil have caught the eye of people who appreciate art. From then on, Inday pursued art as a career, and has never regretted her decision. She became a prolific spontaneous artist, doing paintings, sculpture, ceramics, papier mache and installations. In doing all her works, she just listened to her heart, and followed its dictates.
Inday has won her share of awards, from a Juror’s Choice for Sculpture in the 1997 NCCA Manila Art Competition, to Finalist in the 1998 Philip Morris Art Awards. In 1987, she won first prize in the Higante-Making Contest conducted by the Cultural Center of the Philippines. Her alma mater, Foundation University in Dumaguete City, gave her the Golden Jubilee Award for Visual Arts last year. She has also exhibited in various venues, from the Lopez Museum to the Government Service Insurance System Museo ng Sining.
Now Inday is on her 17th solo show. Random Feelings, her current exhibit sponsored by Art Gallery Philippines, is ongoing at The Art Center of Glorietta 4 until tomorrow, August 2. On view are her molave sculptures, her colorful women paintings, and her whimsical line drawings. More than just showing her “art as pleasure and comfort for the soul,” Inday also reveals her other art — “art as the nationalist expression of the desire for social change.”
“The artist is the soul of the country. Kailangang mai-convey ang nararamdaman natin (We should convey our feelings). I react through my art,” she said. The tragedies that struck the country recently, such as the Payatas “trash-slide” and the fighting in Mindanao have struck a chord in her heart, and she wants to call attention to them through her art. Come to think of it, she has always been affected by calamities such as flooding, erosion, etc. and this comes out in her sculptures. Some are distorted and show tension, dismay and disappointment. But there are some which are positive, such as one currently on show, a sculpture she made out of molave and found objects. It shows a vase as head, and in front of it is an araro (farmer’s toll). “This suggests that regarding the Mindanao crisis, it is livelihood that is needed,” Inday revealed.
“May value ang artist. May magagawa kami. Ang art napaka-importante sa bansa natin (Artists have value. We can do something. Art is very important to the nation). The greatest satisfaction of an artist comes when he is able to relay his thoughts to others,” she added.
It seems that she is successful in this regard, for her works are quickly snatched up by buyers. Art critic Cid Reyes once asked her, “Will you paint even if you do not have a market anymore?” Inday replied, “Wala naman talaga akong market. Nagugulat na lang ako na nabebenta ang works ko. (I don’t really have a market. I am surprised that my works sell).”
Maybe it’s because the works are full of life. And feelings. Inday agreed when she said, “Once you finish your work, may sariling damdamin na yon (It has feelings of its own).” Feelings must beget feelings.
K Monitor 