Zen of Rico Lascano
Monday, June 11, 2018 / D-2
Text by Terence Repelente
He meant no vulgarity using the Pollock simile. Lascano
views his art and his process the way animals breed, plants grow, storms are
formed—a force of nature. This is what he considers the artist’s gift, creating
something out of nothing. He derives happiness from his creation, and from
happiness comes the calmness he seeks, the calmness he wishes to give to those
who lay their eyes upon his art, his very signature.
In an exclusive interview with the Manila Bulletin, Lascano
tells the story on how he found this signature. A graduate of the University of
the Philippines with a Bachelor Degree in Visual Communication, he received one
of the top awards in his graduation thesis. In no time at all, he was offered
two jobs in advertising. “I became a visualizer then an art director, straight
out of college. Even though I minored in painting, I did not practice it and,
at that time, I had no interest in pursuing it because I was already in
advertising,” he says. “But it was because of my boss, the now famous Edwin
Wilwayco, who was my art director, that I fell for painting again.” In their
drinking sessions, after work, says Lascano, Wilwayco would convince him to
paint again. “Come on! Just try picking up a brush. You won’t regret it,”
Wilwayco would say. “Eventually I gave in and I tried to paint. I learned a lot
from Edwin. But at first, I really had a hard time doing abstract,” he says.
“When I started to paint seriously, I found my own style, something far from
Edwin’s, which was more colorful, more detailed. Mine was leaning toward the
‘Zen’ type, which was espoused by Gus Albor and Lao Lianben.”
When Lascano saw Albor’s works, he felt inspired to the
point of emulating the artist’s style. Albor became his guide in building his
own unique signature. “I remember trying out so many things. I experienced
struggling to find my signature as an artist. I cannot redo Edwin’s style,
that’s not me. Although he was the one who pushed me into painting, I did not
imitate his style. You’ll eventually feel it when it’s there. Then I just
noticed how all of my works are minimalist paintings, devoid of colors,” he
says. “And maybe that’s what I am, that’s my signature. I’m a minimalist by
heart, I don’t like so many details, even when I was still an art director I
was very minimal. I use a lot of negative space. I get agitated if there are
unnecessary lines, I erase it.”
Lascano has been painting for 15 years and he has never
changed his style since he found it. He has always been known for his
colorless, sparse, and calm paintings. He says he gets his inspiration mainly
from nature. Famed art writer Cid Reyes even pointed out to him how he was
fixated with water. In fact, he has had four solo shows that are dedicated only
to water.
In his upcoming solo show themed and titled “Spatium Divinae
(Divine Space),” Lascano reinforces his identity as one of the masters of Zen
painting. He creates a series of large serene, heaven-like abstractions, which
mimic the calming effect of nature. “I want my paintings to calm you down. I
invite the viewer to meditate on them. Everybody has their own divinity and,
for me, in order to reach that divinity, one has to think total calmness. This
series is made to achieve just that.”
This has always been the goal of Lascano’s artistic career.
“I want anyone who looks at my art to be calm. I have a collector, someone who
loves my work. He told me that he put my painting in his bedroom because he
wants to see it first thing in the morning, because it calms him down,” he
says. “More than selling, that’s my biggest reward, to be able to evoke
calmness, to give the viewer a spiritual experience. That, I think, is my
ultimate mission or purpose as an artist.”
Rico Lascano’s “Spatium Divinae” will run from June 14 to 28 at the Altro Mondo Arte Contemporenea.
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