Art Coco: A visit to Geraldine Javier’s studio in Batangas

Visual artist Geraldine Javier is in a special place.

She has long been obsessed with the subject of death — not just physical death but also the slow psychological kind that gnaws at you when you live in a metropolis that’s chaotic, congested and debilitating.

A few years ago, she moved her studio from Sampaloc, Manila, to a picture-perfect farm in Batangas so she could go back to her childhood environment. It’s idyllic: there’s a view of a lush mountain that would put Fernando Amorsolo in ecstasy, and a temperate climate that anyone living in Metro Manila would kill for. After a few hours of studio work, she goes outdoors and gardens. 

You’d think she’d be happy and content, right? But she’s not. “Here in Batangas, wow, life is so beautiful! But I still go back to death as subject matter,” she tells Coconuts TV in a rare and candid interview at her studio.

“Life is good, but I also realize that now I have less years to enjoy it. The irony is that I moved to this beautiful place, yet I am still worried about death. I can’t shake it off,” she says.

That said, Geraldine, born in 1970, is sure that her art will be evolving, especially now that she is no longer so angsty. “That’s what I fear: When I move to the province and I’m so at peace, my works will lose their edge,” she shares.

Her fear is unfounded. Her recent exhibition at Finale Art Gallery, “Landscape As A State Of Mind Is A Landscape,” was as mind-blowing as her previous ones. She has mastered a visual vocabulary that unifies elements like paint, collage, embroidery to tell her personal narratives, leaving viewers mesmerized by the richness and originality of her works.

Watch Coconuts TV’s video above for the full interview.



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