Of Art and Love

The spellbinding and visuallystriking art of celebrated painter Fatima Ronquillo takes inspiration from her Filipino roots

- Angela Nicole Guiral

Most artists, they say, express themselves better and create depth in their work if they go through life’s troubles, struggles and angst. Take Fatima Ronquillo, aself-taught painter born in Pampanga,  Philippines, who moved to the United States at age ten and is now based in New Mexico.

“I have battled with not knowing exactly where home is. It’s possible to live in two worlds, but it’s also common for someone who emigrated as a child to feel like an outsider in both worlds,” she says. She believes this isolation element has informed her art, full of solitary figures living in an inner world. “I see the Western classical imagery through the lens of an outsider, and my Filipino roots uniquely add to this and create a new visual language,” she adds.

Ronquillo’s art is imaginary but emblematic, with elements surrounding a figure and working together to support the main idea. “The symbolism of objects is important to me,” she says. “I do not paint just to paint another painting. There has to be meaning and narrative—a personal creative constraint. Otherwise, it’s just random image-making.”

When she includes a nightingale in a painting, for example, it’s not because she wants to add just any bird other than the nightingale associated with the Persian poet Hafez, which later inspired the works of Oscar Wilde. “The nightingale, like the rose, symbolises unrequited tragic love,” she explains, citing examples of symbols and references that ignite her desire to create.