For Pangasinan native Rachel Anne Lacaba, colors are not only there to delight us, but serve as “profound conduit[s] for introspection and self-discovery”. Her work ‘BALINTATAW’ for the recent group release Serious Play articulates this belief, as the artist melds realism with surrealism to hold a mirror up to the realities of everyday life. The Filipino word for the pupil of the eye, the ‘balintataw’—the dark spot at the center of one’s iris—is the point at which light enters toward the nerves that send information to the brain.
In Lacaba’s ‘BALINTATAW’, a monochromatic figure recedes into a darkness. The only other monochromatic form to accompany it is a crow; around the duo, though, the world is teeming with all sorts of colors and bizarre forms. Curiously, the crow is the only entity realistically depicted, but even so, he is perched there, on the threshold between what is real and what is imagined. Which world does he inhabit? Will we ever know and is there any point in knowing at all? For while he sits there, so conspicuous it’s almost teasing, blurring the lines between what we know and cannot know, he remains the one thing we can all be familiar with. For the artist, such is what represents ‘serious play’: the curious calmness we find in states of chaos.
Lacaba has always been drawn to creating. Growing up she was inspired by her observations of people, interactions, and relationships around her; later, she found that painting was an ideal outlet for the multitude of emotions, moods, and stories that sprung from these. She felt an innate need to create and create, and found in it “my place out of the world, where I can just draw and paint and be in the moment”. However, as she shows in ‘BALINTATAW’, creating is no means of escape. Rather, it is a means of feeling it all and coming face to face with the beauty of chaos. Amid the disorder, she maintains there is stillness to be found, connections to be forged—familiarity in spite of everything.
Color has always played vital roles in Lacaba’s work. Beside its usual functions and capacities to delineate forms and convey messages, color aids the eye in recognizing values—not just of lightness and darkness, but of emotions and feelings we encounter in her work. She says in a previous show, Muni-muni: “My works offer viewers raw and honest reflections of the human condition, inviting viewers to explore their own inner landscapes and confront the complexities of existence.” As she continues to use color as a channel to reach into depths of one’s emotions, she extends another invitation, this time to connect: “A connection is made when I create something,” she says, “and I want to share that connection with others.”
Rachel Anne Lacaba recently participated in the online group show Serious Play which ran from November 7 to December 7Creating connections with Rachel Anne Lacaba on Cartellino.
About the artist
Rachel Anne Lacaba is a self-taught visual artist hailing from Pangasinan, Philippines. She graduated with a degree in Information Technology at AMA College before pursuing a career in the art industry. The artist's social realism and surrealism techniques are dedicated to the realities of life.
In Lacaba's artistic exploration, she delves into the captivating realm of colors, not merely as a visual feast for the eyes, but as a profound conduit for introspection and self-discovery.
Lacaba’s works have been displayed in multiple exhibitions in various major galleries in the Philippines and abroad. She became part of the CANVAS‘ Artist-in-Residence Program in 2019 and 2020, was a mentee of Agos Studio is 2021, a grantee of the TUKLAS Mentorship in 2019, and was part of the Residency Program in 2022. She also participated in the Linangan Art Residency Mentorship Program in the same year.