VISUAL artist Lizanne Uychaco remembers the enduring advice of one her art professors. The true hallmark of an artist finding his or her niche, she was told, is when signing the artwork becomes redundant.
“People shouldn’t have to read the signature to know who made the piece,” Uychaco recalled. “When it comes to that point, it means the artist has found a place in the art world.”
With a trademark style inspired by her identity and informed by different techniques, Uychaco is thriving in hers. The Filipino-Chinese artist radiate positivity, prosperity and all those age-old symbols are believed to attract and promote in her art by presenting the elements of feng shui through modern mixed media.
Her diverse art background spans from sculpture to pottery, from jewelry-making to gold-gilding, as well as painting in watercolor, oils and acrylics.
“I’ve been painting since I was a child,” she said, adding that whenever she didn’t have crayons and watercolor in her hands, she would go for her mother’s dresser and get her lipstick.
“She would spank my hand, and now I know why I don’t like wearing makeup,” Uychaco said, laughing.
It was also during her childhood when she picked up the most prominent element in all of her works. Uychaco grew up in Pasay with the constant presence of a feng shui master. When she was five, Uychaco fell ill, and the feng shui master, a friend of her father’s, handed her a “magic coin.”
It was nothing more than the prototypical feng shui coin: golden, round and with a square hole in the middle. She was told to wear it and was promised the coin would not only heal her but make her strong, lucky, happy and successful.
Today, Uychaco holds two master’s degrees in business administration and economics from Ateneo de Manila University and the University of Asia and the Pacific. On weekdays, she serves as the senior vice president of SM Investments Corp. On weekends, she usually paints.
To attribute her current success with a childhood promise would be poetic, but nothing more. Regardless, it’s a connection Uychaco fully recognizes and hopes to emulate by incorporating the image of the magic coin in her artworks.
“I started with a sculpture of the coin, showed it to the feng shui master, and he gave me his blessing,” Uychaco said. “That has started a niche for me, that there was actually a vacuum in that field. There was a community looking for feng shui art, to have good luck, but something more modern and more tasteful.”
Uychaco has been professionally presenting modern feng shui art for 26 years since being launched by Ayala Museum in a discovery series. Managed by the Art Elements Gallery in SM Aura Premier, she usually holds one exhibit per year featuring eight to 10 pieces.
Last week, Uychaco rolled out 24 works in her biggest solo exhibition by far, as the featured artist of Conrad Manila’s ninth installation of its Of Art and Wine series. Titled Of Art and Wine: Heaven and Earth, the show also highlights the classic features of Pernod Ricard wines and spirits. The exhibit runs at the hotel’s Gallery C until August 11.
“With every Of Art and Wine exhibit that we open, we want to underscore Conrad Manila’s commitment to art and culture, and with Lizanne’s exhibit, our support in highlighting women and their outstanding achievements,” Conrad Manila General Manager Laurent Boisdron said, adding that the exhibit is one of their highlight events for the brand’s third anniversary month of June, and the 100-year celebration of Hilton Worldwide, the parent company of Conrad Hotels & Resorts.
Uychaco said the show was two years in the making with the number of pieces displayed.
Among the featured works is Prism of Happiness,a breezy depiction of a golden tree with varying shades of blue leaves, portrayed to bear fruits of feng shui coins. Another is Zen of Life. It is an entry that exudes opulence under a series that highlights the feng shui coin.
Despite being rooted in Eastern culture, Uychaco’s art also appeals not only to Asian collectors. She said Caucasians have also come to appreciate her work, saying art stands for itself.
“But of course, there are people who want to get the bonus for luck,” she said. “I guess to have luck on your side really makes you feel better.”