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Description

The Philippine version of the Book of Genesis, the story of creation. In Philippine mythology, it claims that the first man and woman emerged from inside a bamboo tree split in half by a bird.

In the beginning there was only sky, sea, and a single bird. The bird grew tired and, while looking for a place to rest, stirred up the sea until its waters reached the sky. The sky then showered the sea with islands in order to calm it down, and told the bird to pick an island to build its nest there.

One day, the bird was struck by a bamboo pole, the child of the land and sea breezes. Annoyed, the bird struck at the nodes of the bamboo until it split. From one half a man emerged, Malakas ("strong one") and from the other half a woman, Maganda ("beautiful one").

My rendition of this subject is very much inspired by Ovid’s Metamorphoses. One of my early paintings is the morphing of Daphne into a laurel tree as she tried to avoid Apollo. This piece is the opposite of Ovid’s fantasy of human transformation into nature.

Oil on canvas, 24x36in 2022.

ART PRINTS are now available! Please visit natlamina.art/ for more of my artworks.

Instagram: www.instagram.com/lasarasu/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/lasarasu/

Description

The Philippine version of the Book of Genesis, the story of creation. In Philippine mythology, it claims that the first man and woman emerged from inside a bamboo tree split in half by a bird.

In the beginning there was only sky, sea, and a single bird. The bird grew tired and, while looking for a place to rest, stirred up the sea until its waters reached the sky. The sky then showered the sea with islands in order to calm it down, and told the bird to pick an island to build its nest there.

One day, the bird was struck by a bamboo pole, the child of the land and sea breezes. Annoyed, the bird struck at the nodes of the bamboo until it split. From one half a man emerged, Malakas ("strong one") and from the other half a woman, Maganda ("beautiful one").

My rendition of this subject is very much inspired by Ovid’s Metamorphoses. One of my early paintings is the morphing of Daphne into a laurel tree as she tried to avoid Apollo. This piece is the opposite of Ovid’s fantasy of human transformation into nature.

Oil on canvas, 24x36in 2022.

ART PRINTS are now available! Please visit natlamina.art/ for more of my artworks.

Instagram: www.instagram.com/lasarasu/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/lasarasu/