Soler and Mona Santos explore blooms and falls

Something that’s a bit curious: At first, the viewer wouldn’t think that the "Interaction" pieces by Soler and Mona Santos were created by two persons – in this case a husband-and-wife tandem. More like an artist with a streak of creative schizophrenia inside him. One side with a fascination for flowers, the other for nature reduced to charming shapes, blocks, patterns and textures. (Probably similar to the pair Bono sings about in a track from U2’s latest album – "And it’s you when I look in the mirror/and it’s you that makes it hard to let go…")

What makes Soler and Mona different from other artist-couples is that they don’t follow an oil-and-water dialectics when it comes to art and the pursuit of the elusive muse. You can say that they are married to each other not just legally, spiritually, but thematically as well.

"I paint first, and then I give the piece to Mona, tapos pinapatungan niya ‘yung trabaho ko (laughs)," shares Soler. "We never fight, because before we start painting, we talk things over first and do some studies."

Soler and Mona’s interaction pieces as well as individual paintings (20 by Soler, and 12 by Mona) will be featured in Recent Works at the SM Art Center in SM Megamall from March 16 to April 2.

Soler had his first show at Luz Gallery when he was 21. He was a CCP Thirteen Artists awardee and has represented the country in international shows. He recently exhibited at the Taiwan Print and Drawing Biennale. Mona was a Juror’s Choice in the 1995 Philip Morris Philippine Art Awards.

This is the couple’s second exhibit together. The first was undertaken in preparation for their Forest and Blooms show at the Philippine Center Gallery in New York in ‘97.

"We work harmoniously," Mona says, adding that they’ve been married for 20 years. (The two met during their Fine Arts days in UP – Soler was a Painting major, and Mona was in Advertising.) She adds, "When we opened West Gallery in Quezon City in ’89, ang daming free time, so I began painting."

Mona has made her mark in the Philippine art scene with her hyper-realistic flowers – which are so detailed that bees would probably try to sip nectar from it and sniff linseed oil instead. Why flowers?

"I just like the play of light and shadows on flowers," Mona explains. She was fascinated with shells before and depicted them with the same hyper-realistic bent and radiant light. "The first major oil on canvas that I did had flowers as subject. Since then I never looked back. Besides, ‘yun lang ang kaya kong gawin eh (laughs)."

Mona cracks a joke: The main reason she paints flowers is that Soler doesn’t give her flowers anymore. "I like roses, peonies and lilies. I draw from photographs. If I drew from life, baka lanta na ‘yung bulaklak bago ako matapos (laughs)."

Soler, like Mona, is also a nature-tripper. In the ‘80s, Soler – one of the sons of modern master Malang, who is fondly called "Tatay" in the Santos household – painted fallen leaves magnified many times over. For Recent Works, Soler focuses on waterfalls after his explorations of rainforests and stone gardens in past shows. That attraction with nature hasn’t dimmed, although Soler admits that his style has become more abstract.

"I just love intricate textures, squares and grids in my work," he says, adding that he likes subdued and earthy colors like browns and a lot of ochre. "Even in the clothes I wear – I prefer grays and blacks. I think abstraction is where I’m headed, although as an artist you can’t really be sure."

Mona quips, "Soler’s works have become more abstract because abstract ‘yung utak ko eh (laughs)."

They laugh together. They mount shows together from time to time. They paint forms and figures from Mother Nature together. Call it an organic partnership.

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Recent Works by Soler and Mona Santos, which is organized by Finale Gallery, is on view from March 16 to April 2 at the SM Art Center, at the fourth level of SM Megamall Bldg. A, Mandaluyong City.