The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up."
-Pablo Picasso
As children, we've always had a clear vision of what we wanted to be for
the rest of our lives. If you think of it now you'd still remember it and with
clarity, however, we often forget this. Most of us are stuck in a day job right
now, forever wondering why we're there in the first place.
In the process of growing up, we often forget what catapulted us into
being who we are now, we neglect what matters to us most under peer pressure
and the pleasure of pleasing others. We surrender our own dreams in favor of
monetary concerns and immediate needs. And in doing so, we forget who we really
are.
Guada Ramos Funtilar depicts the simple joys of our childhood in masterful oil paintings, back to a time when the world is our playground. Back to a time when we played with anything and everything we could get our hands on, even if they weren't really toys but as kids, we didn't really care.
She brings us back to that innocent time when we made makeshift houses and forts out of blankets, to the day we made household chairs become vehicles and spaceships, to that moment when we tasted honey from a flower for the first time. We see things differently then, our imagination brings us to a place forgotten by adults.
Guada remembers when she was at a negative point in her life, art was her form of coping. She decided to visit art galleries to lighten her spirits and to her dismay, she only saw gloomy and dark-themed artworks on gallery walls. "I want to feel happy, I want to see something that can make me happy," she told herself.
Amidst the negativity that is now prevalent not only in the world we live in but also in the art scene, where artists now often depict darker and darker themes to seem deep and to garner attention.
Guada instead chooses to paint something pleasant and joyful, she wants us to remember these forgotten memories we had from a more innocent time, not to remain as children but rather, to evoke something within us, for us to remember who we are.
Getting swayed by the flow of endless information on TV and media we get so caught up, we often focus our attention on things unimportant to us that we neglect to appreciate the simple things in life.
CHILDHOOD MEMORIES is a reminder of the simple things in life because it's always the simple things that we often forget.
Marius Black
Manila, 2017
