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Life As I Know ItNoel Ed de Leon

PhotographyNoel Ed de Leon

Descriptionsproduced together with

Katrina CruzGenevieve Schwartz

noeleddeleon@blogspot.comdeleon.noeled@yahoo.com

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“Life As I Know It” began to evolve soon after I started my own family. Together with my loving and understanding wife, I experienced both happiness and hardship trying to work and raise our children in this

country. I don’t have anything except from them, my family, which I called my own.

It has been quite a while since I started to collect antiques and vintage memorabilia (otherwise known as ‘found objects’). I found them as good pieces of art, and I take an interest in military history and objects. You will notice that found objects feature prominently throughout the exhibition. What material I used in general, inherits and expresses the conditions of

how we have coped as a family.This exhibition is my way of sharing my passion of being a family man and

an artist.

I take this opportunity to show you what I feel and who I am.

I am Noel Ed De Leon. Filipino Artist and family man for a lifetime.

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The Sunflower2010Acrylic paint, mixed media on canvas100cm x 100cm

Despite the regulations and restrictions (symbolised by impaired sight and voice), which hinder at present the strength and confidence to express one’s self, a vision of a brighter tomorrow prevails.

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Boundaries of Time2010Acrylic on canvas100cm x 100cm

The intermittent development of this artwork is exemplified in the block areas of blue, black and grey. Art is constrained and not enriched by time and money; the artist used the only paints that he had left or could afford to buy. The obligation to earn and work consumes life as he knows it: both hindering and defining the progression of his thoughts and impulses.

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Balance2010Acrylic on canvas100cm x 100cm

A quest of achieving balance permeates all areas of life: family, friendships, religion and the environment. Striving for balance to avoid emotions of over-indulgence, defeat and weariness. “…yellow means hope and the white is peace of mind.” The red and green colours bleed uncontrollably across the measured and consistent pattern of the yellow and white – an imbalance .

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Daydream2011Acrylic on canvas100cm x 100cm

On the bus, in the train, even while walking. We dream about a lot of things: the future successes of our children, to travel around the world with our loved one, leading a good and untainted life.

“I wake up from my daydreams and realise that I am not walking on land I can (not yet) call my own, and I am missing my family back home.”

Daydreams are the ethereal projections of our hopes and our visions of the day when we can finally share our successes with our loved ones.

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Ambitious Words2011Acrylic on canvas100cm x 100cm

The layering of shades and lines is a symbolic ‘dulling’ superimposition of the obligations of the present time on the bright ambitions and visions of the future.

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Everyday Life2011Acrylic on canvas100cm x 100cm

“All things are limited.” The everyday routine of constant interruptions hindered the progression of this artwork; the artist himself was limited in choices of paints he could use too. This is conveyed through the composition’s patchy constellation and distribution of colours.

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I Am a Filipino2011Mixed media on canvas and books

A statement on the conditions of an irregular identity. The experience of being a Filipino is never a wholesome one. There are constant moments of disorientation, confusion and feeling apart and other.

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Life2011Acrylic on canvas100cm x 100cm

Part One of Series ‘Lifetime’. A representation of confusion about where to start or where to go. The black lines are symbolic of the uncontrollable nature of life.The artist hoped to used circles instead of squares. But he thought block shapes and lines were more appropriate.

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Time2011Acrylic on canvas100cm x 100cm

Part Two of Series ‘Lifetime’. An optimistic progression from ‘Life’, which expresses a better sense of clarity, coordination and continuity.The shapes outline a man lying horizontally. The constant anxiety of deciding upon the ‘right’ direction in life is ever-present.

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Título2011

Acrylic on canvas

100cm x 100cm

Title and Entitlement:

1.) An academic degree not yet been put to use or practice

2.) A good career that has been set aside.

3.) Citizenship yet to be legalised.

The colours are enclosed within the lines just as the artist feels barred and held back intellectually and professionally.

Land of the Giants2011Metal sculpture, toy soldier, mod roc

A message that communicates alienation, intimidation and inequality. Though despite the adverse implications, the artist also expresses feeling “…lucky. Lucky, to be living in this country, the land of kind, intelligent, ‘tall’ people.”

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I Tell You My Story2011Mixed media on board, ceramic wheel, metal gas pipe, glass bottles, mod roc

The bottles serve as the symbols of every Filipino story. Stories that they gather to hear about and share among each other. The bottles are dressed in white to reflect their stories are akin. This kinship bears the root to the community that strengthens with each storyteller and listener that joins.

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Noxious2011Mixed media on board, gas mask, vintage pulley, string55x55cm

The irony that an apparatus used to facilitate breathing, makes us simultaneously feel anxiety, discomfort and suffocation. This emblematic work relates the artist’s experience of moving to the UK and adapting to his new surroundings.

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Go With the Flow2011Metal helmets, shower gel, mouthwash, water with fish, coffee, tea, milk, chocolate drink, coke, lemonade, orange soda, Sprite, red wine, white wine, beer, whiskey, cooking oil, vinegar, soy sauce430cm x 35cm

Reinforcing the message to follow the pace of life as it comes and not to over-complicate things; a commonly-known, yet internal and daily struggle. The artist utilises military helmets here for pragmatic reasons and because of their association with protection and survival.

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Water2011Military water container (stainless steel and aluminum), mess kit, books

Part 1 of ‘Elements’ series. Precious, limited and measured - Earth’s resource and source of life. Images of war and composition of military paraphernalia induces the memories of World War II, the arrival of the Americans and General MacArthur on water – a historic image which symbolisedthe Philippines’ imminent emancipation from Japanese occupation.

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Earth2011Military folding bed, soil, plants, artificial skull, leather boots, glass bottle, ammunition shells77x200cm

Part 2 of ‘Elements’ series. The exploration of the imminent phenomena of life and death: how an old military folding bed can support life - as the skull also is a remnant of a physical human life -even though its immediate connotations are with death.

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Fire2011Vintage blowtorch, vintage carbite miner’s lamp, portable stove from World War II, compass, barometer, ammeter

Part 3 of ‘Elements’ Series. Fire, one of the quintessential keys to survival. The precarious nature of this piece represents how the ‘Elements’ hold our position on earth in balance.

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Diyos Ko (My God)2011Vintage weighing scale, rosary necklace, candles, wooden cross with plastic, coins, calculator, rice grains, potatoes, framed picture.

A commentary on cultural symbolism of everyday objects, perceived hierarchical powers and society’s similar treatment of religion and the monarchy in relation to the objects according to the artist – a foreigner to a society comparatively more secular. The confusion culminates in the audible overlapping of musical compositions ‘Zadok the Priest’ (Handel), the Coronation Anthem and ‘Angelus’ - Orasyon in Tagalog (Filipino).

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Self-Portrait2011Painting, framed picture, chair, spot light, rubber mice, gas mask

‘Self-Portrait’ confronts the everyday challenges of devoting your life to art. In this piece, the artist considers the example he is setting for his children by becoming an artist. He does not want his sons to struggle the way that he has. “I imagine myself on the chair, naked, wearing the gas mask…it’s the good, the bad and the ugly”.

The artist invites to interact with this composition, to take a photo participating in an act of self-reflection.

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Pull me up2011Pulley (wood and metal), rope, locking karabiner, metal container

The life of the Filipino is constituted by the helping hands of their fellow Filipinos who pull them up from below. The container is symbolic of the burden of responsibilities and/or the dreams of a ‘better life’ which Filipinos carry with them wherever they go. The installation is a physical visualisation of an attempt to escape ‘crab’ mentality, that is of never moving forward. A positive observation (although it is tainted with some negative connotations) about cultural solidarity.

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Time in a Battle2011Vintage wine bottle, glass jar, wood level, vintage pocket watch, plastic scale

The illusion of Time contained. Time, the centre of our energy and efforts, the positive and the negative. It is not Time that struggles with us, it is what we struggle to hold onto, what we depend on the most.

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Age of Enlightenment2011Buddha head, mod roc, railway lamp, old metal box, high chair, lighth:110 x l:56 x w:56cm

A reflection of the artist’s own personal Age of Enlightenment; his own exploration of the legacy of idols through time in both Eastern and Western (English) society. The artist explains with the statue of the Buddha that despite its physical disfigurement – the belief in the thing itself always prevails.

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Cycle of Mind2011Bicycle, toy bicycle, mod roc

This piece equates the nature of human ambition to the nature of a bike; built with the purpose to always move forwards. This found object, though it proved to be functional still, was located at a dumpster. The artist comments on how it is easy to get lost along the way, to lose the sense of direction.

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Kayad Kabayo (Working Life a Horse)2011Kick scooter, child’s bicycle, rocking horse, children’s artworks, shoes, road sign

Pairs of shoes worn day-to-day, laid out one pair in front of the other: a representation of the perpetuating, recycled routine of daily life.

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Untitled2011Acrylic on canvas100cm x 100cm

This piece seeks to explore the artists ‘self’. Amongst the midst of bold, rapidly produced lines and shapes appears the clearest of all the elements of the painting - the word ‘ME’ highlighted by a large yellow arrow. With the rest still rendered unfocussed and unclear, the artist renders his journey of self-discovery still incomplete.

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