• Home
  • About Us
    • About the Publisher
    • Advertise with Us
  • Contact Us
  • Login
  • Subscribe

Grimag

  • Editor’s Notes
  • OSM! Video Gallery
  • Biting The Big Apple

Mosaic Artist Pando Manipon Turns a Fallen Leaf into Artistic Perfection

By Marivir R. Montebon

“Perfection is no small thing, but it is made up of small things.” – Michelangelo

New York – Artist Fernando “Pando” Manipon, in 2009, locked himself in seclusion in his Malate condominium months after the super typhoon Ondoy devastated much of Manila with its high waters and merciless winds. His friends were concerned. At one point, Louie de Vera, one of his closest pals, visited him to find out what could be the matter. He asked why he was not coming out of his house.

La Madre Filipina

Dahon ng Lahi exhibit opens August 27, 2019 at the Philippine Center.

And Pando, in his workshop, showed de Vera his most recent work of art: the Malate Church depicted in a collage of leaves. These leaves were stuck in Pando’s veranda right after the super typhoon.  Instead of throwing them away, Pando decided he could do something artistic out of them.

And indeed, the Malate Church mosaic in sepia was beautiful. De Vera loved it. It justified Pando’s withdrawal from the world to be able to create something amazing. He has, after all, immortalized the fallen leaves through his intricate mosaics.

Pando, in a telephone interview, said his creations were inspired by the documentary made by Kaatzuo Akasaki on dried leaves, which he saw 10 years earlier before he embarked on his own creative streak.

Pando had been a fashion designer for 30 years. His label Pandora’s Box was carried in major department stores in Manila. He shifted to visual arts after coming full circle as a fashion designer.

“I got bored with the fashion industry which began to just recycle itself in the late 1990s. I wanted something new so I decided to study Fine Arts at the PWU in 2000 and learned to use oil, water color, and acrylic,” he said.

The fallen leaves of super typhoon Ondoy in 2009 was Pando’s new door to the boundless world of creativity. There was no turning back since then. Pando was in love with his work again, creating mosaics of churches and heritage sites.

In 2013, he was the featured solo artist at the halls of the Philippine Senate which showcased his leaf mosaic of 12 churches, following a feature article written about him and his work by Ruben Cruz of the Philippine Mirror.  

He also made another exhibit at the San Agustin Museum for the National Commission for Culture and the Arts. Its centerpiece was the Shroud of Turin which was made of dried leaves of the Balete Aurora Tree.

Another claim to fame for Pando was his Ostrich Egg (a gift from a friend who had an ostrich farm) where he fashioned into a leaf mosaic of St. Peter’s Basilica on it. Before Pope Francis received it during his January 2015 visit in Manila, the Ostrich Egg mosaic became an instant news sensation, as the leaves used were gathered after super typhoon Yolanda.

Beginning August 27, 2019, Filipinos in New York would be able to see Pando’s leaf mosaic on exhibit at the Philippine Center.  There will be 43 art pieces to be shown in the “Dahon ng Lahi”, Pando’s first international show sponsored by the ministries of San Lorenzo Ruiz in New York and the Philippines.

Fr. Erno Diaz commissioned on him the San Lorenzo Ruiz image using his now famous leaf mosaic. Pando said he prayed earnestly to be able to do the work correctly. “I prayed hard for a vision as there was no available picture of the young martyr. All I know is he was of Filipino and Chinese descent, a brown lad who served as sacristan in Binondo Church,” he revealed.

Fr. Erno was stunned by the imagery he created of San Lorenzo Ruiz. The project commenced and took two months to finish.

Other equally stunning art pieces on exhibit would be the images of Dr. Jose Rizal and La Madre Filipina which is made of skeletonized leaves (showing the veins of the leaves) and garlic peels.

Pando said that his works of art cannot be copied, unlike other visual art forms which can be digitized. “It is so unique and rare in itself.”

At 73, Pando is constantly exploring on various media to use for his mosaic: garlic peels, leaves, and grains of rice, where each intricate detail is perfected only by love.

His exhibit, which will be opened by Arch. Bernardito Auza, the Permanent Representative of the Holy See to the UN, will run until August 30, 2019. (Featured photo: Pando Manipon in Manhattan, photo by Atty. Ferdinand ‘Dean’ Suba, Esq.)

 

 

Aug 26, 2019Admin
Felix Starro: First Filipino Musical Off Broadway in AugustPhoto Gallery: The 2019 US Open on a Sizzling Summer

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Admin
2 years ago Around Town, Art & CultureArch. Bernardito Auza, Dahon ng Lahi, Fernando Pando Manipon, La Madre Filipino, Ostrich Egg, Pages of Heritage, Philippine Center, Pope Francis, San Lorenzo Ruiz Global Ministry Manila, San Lorenzo Ruiz Global Ministry New York, Shroud of Turin431
0
GooglePlus
0
Facebook
0
Twitter
0
Delicious
0
Linkedin
0
Pinterest
Forums
  • OSM! has a new look. What do you think?
Categories
  • Main Feature
  • Features
  • Feature Event
  • Diane Fermin Roeder: Bamboo Stilletto
  • Debbie Almocera: Cranial Corner
  • Sylvia Hubilla: Granny Gorgeous
  • Ruth D. Ezra: Kit’s Kitchen
  • Leani M. Auxilio: Le Fou’s Stories
  • Janet Villa: Mothering Heights
  • Arlene Donaire: Lensanity
  • Resto Rendezvous
  • Your ZEN Health
  • OSM! VLog
Email-subscription

Sign up for our newsletter to receive the latest news and event postings.

Most Viewed Posts
The Baby didn’t Come with a Manual
8 years ago
9,682 views
Vanette’s Secret: Cooking Yummy Dried Fish Without the Smell
6 years ago
9,266 views
Maguayan, brother of sky god Kaptan.
The Visayan Creation Myth
10 years ago
7,056 views
FilAm Lt. Christal Theriot: Newest US Army Apache Pilot
5 years ago
6,892 views
Filipinos Known to Take Care of Their Elderly
7 years ago
5,657 views
Recent Posts
  • NYC Commissioners urge NY State Assembly to include Health Coverage for All in State budget March 28, 2022
  • US East Coast Kakampink ask for clean elections; endorse VP Robredo as true servant leader March 28, 2022
  • Filipinos & Filipino Americans Call For Justice at March 30 Rally March 27, 2022
  • Comm. del Castillo to OSM!:  Thank you for the commitment to spotlighting FilAm contributions March 21, 2022
  • OSM! Online Magazine celebrates 10 years of reportage of FilAm communities March 18, 2022
Archives
2014 © OSM!