Art Attack x Style Files: FLORIGAMI

I consider myself very lucky to have always been surrounded by very talented, creative, intelligent, funny and driven individuals. Earlier this year, colleague, photographer and friend Kaity Chua, asked me to be a part of a collaborative series: Florigami.

Now, Kaity and I have already worked together and produced some pretty cool editorials (which will probably be blogged about in the future), but Florigami is different, this is by us and for us.

Florigami, Kaity's brainchild, is a true collaboration. I discover that two other colleagues at our day job, Angee Chua and BL Martirez - who respectively handled Hair and Make-Up and assisted the shoots, were also to be part of the Florigami team. I was soon introduced to Vicky Velasco (who I now call the Paper Queen) was to create and supply all the paper sculptures for the shoot. Marco Ortega built the six-foot stool  and swing set as Production Designer.

The planning process was so organic, the idea of a flower headdress evolved into a space-age geisha. At another time Kaity says, "I wanna do a bull-headed biatch layout,". That layout transformed into a punk-rock-matador-Frida Kahlo amalgamation.

You know what, instead of me talking about it, let me just show you.



Friends, I am very proud to present:

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During our last day of shooting, the team decided that this will be an open-ended project. If at any time a new concept or layout is imagined, the team would reassemble and make it happen. We want this project to *ehem* keep blooming. Yikes. So yeah, stay tuned. I already feel a few ideas budding (okay that's the last pun I swear...). Seriously, much like the original concepts developed organically, I really do hope that this series grows in a similar fashion.

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Special Thanks to our models:

Jessica Yang - the Space-Age Geisha

Eriko Malabanan - the Bull-Headed Biatch

Pauline Prieto - Thumbellina

Nikita McElroy - the Reverse Marie Antoinette
Jasmine Maierhofer - the Mad Hatter

and

Natasha Bautista and Nova Torres: the Swing (Out) Sisters

This would not have been the same without you.

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So, Miss Ria Bolivar, see you at the next Florigami shoot?

I wish.

♥♥♥

Art Attack: Half Drag

Team Latrila during the Half-Baked challenge of RPDR All Stars

Drag is an art form. The transformation from one gender expression to another is unbelievable. This is a big part of why I am a huuuuge fan of RuPaul's Drag Race.

Anywho, while searching the interwebs for photos for my Season 5 blog post I came across this amazing portrait series: 

HALF DRAG

by

LELAND BOBBÉ

The series of portraits by New York City-based photographer Leland Bobbé depicts some of the city's drag performers in 'half drag'. You'll get the picture.

Seriously, check out Leland Bobbé's website here. Also check out his Neo-Burlesque series!

Without further ado (but with the photographer's consent) here are screen caps of his jaw-dropping and visually arresting collection. Click to enlarge, and enjoy!

Miss Fame

Vivienne Pinay

Adriana LaGlam

Heidi Glum

Fifi Duboise

Victoria Falls

Sabel Scities

Viki Vilianess

Roxy Brooks

Pixie Aventura

Azraea

Cherra Secret

Crystal Demure

Epiphany

Honey Davenport

Honey LaBronx

Tara Miso Rice

Shequida

Pusse Couture

Jessica Payge Dae

Digna Shae

Kizha Carr

Miss Fame

Maddox Madison

Tina Burner

Onna Rampage

Jordan Fox

Kittin Withawhip

Ladyy Havokk

Maddelyn Hatter

Magnolia Applebottom

Pattaya Hart

Sherry Vine

Titania Steele

Yuhua Hamasaki

Chandelier Period

Holy Macaroni, right!?

The prints are up for purchase at Leland Bobbé's page: http://lelandbobbe.com/

I hope that this amazing series inspires us to re-think our definitions of beauty and gender. It is clear that both are fluid and non-exclusive.

Keep an open mind, an open eye, and an open heart.

«

Don't forget to check out Leland Bobbé's impressive portfolio at:  http://lelandbobbe.com/

Half-Baked Image of Team Latrila from: http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/latrila

Little Things.5 x Art Attack: Street Cats

I am inclined to write something a bit more optimistic to compensate for the last negapost. (BTdubs, I haven't called Starbucks, I think I'm over it) This is going to be a combination post because its subject does make me smile and I've done a painting with one of them in it. I am talking about—

STREET CATS

Ilog Maria. Silang, Cavite, Philippines. April 2011

I know a lot of people who don't like cats, much less strays—but I am fascinated by them.

To begin with, there's a reason why people who move in a sexy graceful way are described as cat-like or feline. There's an undeniable slinky sexiness to a cat's shoulders when it walks—and those dainty yet deliberate footsteps. Cats possess a dignity, a self-assurance and a regal demeanor no matter what breed—or lack thereof.

I actually have two cats. Here's Tallulah:

And she has a friend—the Rat King!

That's one more thing people don't give cats enough credit for—they're excellent hunters. They help keep the rodent population down. If it weren't for Tallulah, that rat could still be spreading germs and bacteria. Tallulah is kept company by her mother, Cleo, who in her day was an impressive huntress as well, able to snatch birds out of midair.

It is no wonder that purebred cats—like Talullah and Cleo who are Ragdolls—have attracted many fans and fanciers. But run-of-the-mill street cats, who I like to call "Muggles", still posses that grace, dignity and understated beauty common to all of their race.

Park. Magallanes Village, Pasay City, Philippines. July 2011.

I love seeing street cats. I always wonder what they're up to, what adventure they're about to have. When I encounter a street cat that allows itself to be touched and petted—that pretty much makes my day. Friendly street cats make me especially happy because despite their difficult lives on the streets, they still have the capacity for trust and affection. There is something about cats, and street cats in particular, that speaks to my soul. It inspired me a few years ago to create this painting:

PUSAKAL. 16 x 20 inches. Acrylic on Canvas. June 2009.

I'm not a photographer, so every time I take snapshots of my paintings they always look flat... The gold and play of colors and textures are lost. The painting should shimmer and shine, kinda' like in the picture above.

Pusakal is a Tagalog potmanteau—pusang kalye (pusa - cat; kalye - street = street cat).

Street cats remind me that there really is beauty all around us—we simply need to take a closer look. A cat's patterned coat is like a fingerprint—no two cats are exactly the same. And they are survivors, each pusakal is weathering the challenges thrown their way, wending through life in the best way they know—just like the rest of us. Street cats remind me of the millions, nay billions, of faceless, nameless people who are marginalized and forgotten.

To me at least, a street cat is not just a street cat. It is a living, breathing, feeling entity that is part, quite cheesily—I admit—but truthfully, of the circle of life. Much in the same way that nobody is just another white guy, or just a tranny, or just a nigger, or a redneck, or just a woman. In the overlooked, in the forgotten and sometimes even painfully persecuted, we will always find beauty and purpose.

We each wish to be seen and understood for who we truly are, or at least who we want people to think we are. It seems only fair to me then, that I extend this courtesy to everyone I meet—friend and stranger alike.

There is so much more to each of us than meets the eye. I hope that one day we will no longer need to look closely to realize that. Because when the time comes, our minds and hearts will be open enough to realize that the beauty, and purpose and light was there all along.

<3