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‘Himig ng Bahaghari’ Shows Artist Kat Casapao’s Love for Native Birds
In Himig ng Bahaghari, artist Kat Casapao showcases the beauty of our country’s natural fauna and native birds. Her exhibit at Art Anton Gallery uses her distinctive geometric art style as a way of simplifying the nature around us, highlighting their allure while making a case for the protection and preservation of our lands.
Describing her style as akin to cubism, her artistry moves towards “simplified geometric shapes” in her portrayal of our native birds. In her pursuit of representing the beauty of our world, she created eight paintings depicting nature in all its elegance.
“When you look at the actual birds, the plumage of the bird, they have layers of colors,” she said. “For my painting, I wanted to simplify the representation of the bird, so I was thinking of the brushstrokes [and how it] helps in creating this texture of the bird’s plumage.”
The Beauty of Birds
Casapao said that she was inspired to create paintings of birds while she was working in Singapore. She said that she would sit in the city’s parks and attempt to identify the birds she saw. This hobby of hers manifested into a full-blown passion after she returned to the Philippines.
“When I came back here in the Philippines, I got fascinated with Philippine birds,” she said. “I guess before, the only bird I [knew was] the maya bird. And [I wasn’t] familiar that we have some endemic birds you can only find here in the country.”
“Once I started learning more about them, the more I’m getting involved in [finding out] how they live and what kind of habitat they live in. It’s really like the thing I really want to do,” she continued.
Her study of endemic native birds led her to paint the birds as a showcase of our biodiversity. This extended to the flora of our country, painting the trees native to us like the Salingogon tree and the rainbow tree.
Representing Nature in Paintings
Each of Kat Casapao’s paintings for Himig ng Bahaghari utilize a distinctive geometric style that allows for simplified depictions of the birds while still allowing for specific details for each individual creature. She chose the style as a way of capturing the animal’s complexity without being too busy.
Most of the paintings depict only one of two species at a time. “Tuklas ng Tagak,” for example, shows the egret as they walk around the forest. Trojan butterflies from Palawan are painted on top of thin plant stems for “Ligawan.”
Three different types of sunbirds endemic to the Philippines are also shown in the exhibit as they hover around flowers. “Kahanga-hanga” shows them with a blue sky background, while “Galak” and “Manghang Asul” put the flowers and birds in an abstract backdrop.
Her paintings maintain that mantra for simplicity all throughout. You see it in her background work, her dry brushstrokes subtle enough not to clash with the birds and trees in the foreground.
Advocating for Environmental Preservation
Her centerpiece diptych “Bagwis sa Bargas 1-2,” however, depicts birds endemic specifically to Palawan as they stand perched in the branches of the rainbow eucalyptus tree. Her semi-dry brush strokes create an incredible swirling background of pinks and purples that recalls the sky at dusk.
Kat Casapao said that she hopes her paintings will lead to more appreciation of the nature around us. More than that, she hopes to highlight critically endangered species in the paintings to ensure their survival for the future.
“Most of the birds that I paint [are] already critically endangered. Maybe by painting them I can do something that will share awareness to people. That, hey, we have these beautiful birds in our forest so we really need to protect them,” she said.
Himig ng Bahaghari gives Casapao an opportunity to express her love for the nature around her. The paintings, distinct and colorful, give us her perspective on our world and why it’s worth preserving for everyone.
The exhibit is open to the public until August 21.
Related reading: ‘Snare for Birds’: Analyzing How We Look at Archival Data
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