Maria Pureza Escaño
Since her very first show in New York in 2009, Maria Pureza Escaño, as a multidisciplinary artist has produced a large body of work that embraces three artistic disciplines: multi-media painting, sculpture and literary art. Known in the art world as a muralist par excellence, for her masterful realism renditions of soulful and dreamy landscapes and giant murals that grace some of the country’s corporate buildings and private homes, she has also distinguished herself for her unique avant-garde style in religious iconography.
Maria Pureza Escaño was born on February 2, 1970 in Sariaya, Quezon. She started painting at the age of 9 gaining inspiration from books in French Impressionism which she found in her home and in her school library. But as writing was her first love, she studied Bachelor of Arts in English Literature at the Manuel S. Enverga University Foundation and even before earning her degree, received literary awards as a published author of short stories, essays and poetry in the country’s leading publications and literary journals.
In 2009, married and with two kids, Maria Pureza Escaño made a website of the artworks she has done through the years and after a week, received an email from the curator of ICO Gallery, an upscale art gallery in Tribeca, Manhattan, inviting her to show her works with them. This was followed by invitations to exhibit from all over the world: Tokyo, New York, Amsterdam, Milan, Berlin, Paris, Florence, and Singapore.
Maria Pureza Escaño’s works are noted primarily, not only for mastery of skill but also for their epic quality which resonate with the universal and eternal realities and aspirations of humanity. Most characteristic examples of these are “Aubade : Farewell to a Loved One”(2014) an installation sculpture which is currently being built in Berlin, Germany and “ The Rose of Marya” (2010) which stands at the Freedom Park of UP – Los Banos as its Centennial Landmark.
Within 9 years of being a professional artist, Maria Pureza Escano has won numerous awards from various institutions and award-giving bodies. Most notable of these are: the 2015 Quezon Medalya ng Karangalan for Culture and Arts, the highest recognition given to an artist in the Province of Quezon; the 2012 Citation as a “Global Filipina Multidisciplinary Artist” from SM Supermalls during the Pinay Pride Celebration; and the 2014 Enverga Forever Global Alumni Award as a Multidsicplinary Artist” from her alma mater, the Manuel S. Enverga University Foundation. In 2010 she was also the first Asian who was awarded a membership to the highly selective Trevisan International Art which acquired for her exhibition opportunities in key art cities all over Europe. And in 2019, she received the Most Outstanding Cordian Award for Culture and Arts from Sacred Heart College.
Although acquiring considerable adeptness in realism, she always seeks for new vehicles for her creativity. In 2010, she began developing a style she calls Reversed Cloisonnism which was inspired mainly by her fascination in the art of stained glass and the post-impressionist Cloisonnism movement led by Paul Gauguin and Emile Bernard. In cloisonnism, bold and flat forms are separated by dark contours. In order to to capture and retain light in all its vibrancy, Maria Pureza Escano reversed this process and came up with her own individual style. Eminent examples of this process are the “Los Cuatros Evagelistas” (2013), a series of four oval oil-on-canvas which hang at the ancient Parish Church of St. Francis of Assisi in Sariaya and the “The Kiteflier” (2012) which is displayed at the Smart Towers in Ayala, Makati City.
As a humanitarian, Maria Pureza Escaño in 2010 donated all 16 works of her Ode to the Father exhibition to provide seed funds for the Scholarship of Hope, a charity under the Bukas-Loob sa Diyos Catholic Covenant Community, which seeks to provide educational assistance for the children of the poorest of the poor. At present there are now over a thousand SOH scholars all over the Philippines.
Maria Pureza Escaño lives and works at her home studio in Paranaque City with her husband Rad, their two children, Sabbie and Eli, their shit-zu Khloe, and their german shepherd, Apollo.
