Highlights
- Throughout Gen's life, art has been her constant outlet for healing.
- Working at Disneyworld and "creating magic" for children made her realise she wanted to become a teacher.
- She wants to work towards becoming an art therapist.
"Whenever I create a piece, I never have an outcome in mind. I just make sure I'm in the right mood and that I feel the urge to paint. I put out a blank canvas and it all comes out intuitively."
In as much as creating a piece for artist Gen Villaflor flows from intuition, using art as an outlet for healing has become second nature to her.
Gen Villaflor Source: Gen Villaflor
The artist
"Art is supposed to make people question, not just be pretty or beautiful all the time. It's supposed to make you ask yourself 'Why do I like it? Why do I hate it? Why does it make me feel uncomfortable?" Gen shares.
Discomfort has been an integral part of Gen's career and life as an artist. Not only has discomfort helped her discover her medium, it has helped her uncover her suppressed innermost workings.
"My art teacher played a big role in my life. She sparked this thing in me - to explore the canvas and not worry about the outcome. That was uncomfortable for me because I had to let go of control; but from there, I discovered my love for abstract art.
"What I love about abstract art is that it's open to interpretation. Some get confused by it. Some will feel the work resonate with them. One will see it a different way from someone else. I don't explain my work too much in depth because while I paint from my own perspective, what others see is more interesting to me."
"I had to let go of control; but from there, I discovered my love for abstract art." Source: Gen Villaflor
While others may see her work in their own personal way, Gen's work is the physical manifestation of her mental state, helping her get through grief, loss and feelings of inadequacy.
"I've had struggles and art has been the one thing that I could use to express myself without words. There is healing when I create. The movement of painting itself is therapeutic.
"There's a synchronisation and a flow when I paint. My mind is quiet. When you're not in your mind, but in your body, you're taken over by something bigger than yourself. You don't think about perfection - I incorporate mistakes and accidents into the work. I go by what I'm feeling."
Gen likes working with mixed media, but has been experimenting with "glowing, celestial" alcohol inks in the past year. Source: Gen Villaflor
The feelings Gen uses to create her work are also the same feelings she used to suppress.
"I had a very bad breakup in the past that threw me off. It was my first major loss relationship-wise and it nearly broke me.
"In Asian culture, especially, there's a stigma to emotions that are too intense. You're told not to cry, to toughen up. I had suppressed so much over the years that when my former relationship failed, it all came out. I'm very open about this - I went to a psychologist for help."
The feelings Gen uses to create her work are also the same feelings she used to suppress. Source: Francisco Gozon
Sessions with her psychologist and art helped Gen make sense of her feelings.
"I provoke feelings even further now by playing music while I paint.
"I've actually worked on a commission for a couple who gave me a playlist to paint to. It felt like I was listening to their lives unfolding through music. It was their lives on that canvas."
"I've actually worked on a commission for a couple who gave me a playlist to paint to. It felt like I was listening to their lives unfolding through music." Source: Gen Villaflor
The teacher
Off the canvas, Gen has dedicated her life to teaching children.
"A few years ago, I worked in Disneyworld under the Disney College Program. My job was basically to make magic for children on a daily basis. The experience made me think, 'Oh my gosh, I think I want to be a teacher.'"
And she did - first in kindergarten and currently in primary school.
"My job was basically to make magic for children on a daily basis. The experience made me think, 'Oh my gosh, I think I want to be a teacher.'" Source: Gen Villaflor
"Teaching has been part of my life for a few years now and I love it."
Loving the work means loving and supporting the kids with their feelings, especially during this pandemic.
While there is a push for , Gen is responding to her students' particular mental health needs in her own way.
Self-portraits done by Gen's prep students Source: Gen Villaflor
"What the kids have had to deal with lately is the pandemic. Holidays for them don't even feel like breaks. They come out of lockdown even more confused.
"I have this boy in my class who was very affected by the lockdowns. When we resumed classes, I could already tell that he was a ticking time bomb. He came in very unsettled.
Instead of telling him to stop crying or to simply cheer up, Gen told him that she noticed that his face was red and that he wasn't smiling.
Art helps with emotions and emotions help with art. Source: Gen Villaflor
"He told me he was angry and that he felt his anger in his stomach.
"I asked him if he wanted to do some painting with me before we did reading or maths. I put on some music and I sat beside him and we did art together. I encouraged him, allowed him to feel what he was feeling and directed his emotions towards art. He was able to release his anger and go about his day after that."
Gen shares that she has found that music and art can soothe even the most unsettled child.
An art studio for the kids Source: Gen Villaflor
"Given the right, encouraging environment, the kids are able to get lost in the work. They feel free. I don't impose my biases or wants on them. They don't have to be 'perfect' or be a certain way. I just help them be."
The future art therapist
Helping her students has also helped her realise that she eventually wants to do a postgraduate degree in art therapy.
Art therapy is a specialised field of mental health that utilises creativity and art materials in order to explore feelings and; to reduce, manage and resolve mental health issues.
"Aside from hoping that I can do a collective art exhibit on mental health with other artists in the future, my dream is to become an art therapist for a children's hospital.
"This sounds corny, but it's true - art has helped with my healing and it's part of me." Source: Gen Villaflor
"Art is healing and I stand by that so much. It's something sacred almost. It has been my constant throughout this changing world. This sounds corny, but it's true - it's helped with my healing and it's part of me."
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