These Brilliant Artworks Use Pastel as a Medium

An art exhibition of four visual artists—Iris Babao-Uy, Nell Belgado, Glenn Perez and Tessa Punzalan-Brodeth—Intrinsic Brilliance ran from March 8 to 21 at Ayala Museum’s ArtistSpace. The exhibit revolved around pastel as an art medium, and all the possibilities and outcomes that come with using it.

Bound by the pandemic and its series of lockdowns, the pastel artists aim to spark awareness among community members and art enthusiasts, and establish what sets pastel apart from other art media. As a rarely-appreciated medium, pastel now earns the spotlight it deserves.

Iris, Nell, Glenn, Tessa mounted the exhibit with a common design in mind—to promote pastel as a dry medium. The quartet would love to highlight its important features—that it’s still a form of painting albeit a dry medium; that its crystal-like particles are solid and pure and do not mix under microscopic examination; that it is durable and comparable to oil and acrylic paints; that it mainly uses paper but works on other surfaces and materials as well; that it exhibits versatility and stability; that it creates deep, vivid, and luminous colors and must not be mistaken for cosmetic tones; that it doesn’t change color once applied on paper; and that it is worth the investment—be it for preparatory sketch or full-scale painting.

Another one of the unique characteristics of pastel is its undefiled properties. Unlike other art media, it does not consist of a liquid binder such as different oils, gum arabic, polymer, and the likes. Thus, pastel retains its original pigments while oil and acrylic colorization, for instance, can pale over time.

With pastel as a central tool of the trade, Iris, Nell, Glenn, and Tessa showcased their artistic talents through their masterpieces and an interactive wall that served as a conversation ground for artists and visitors alike, elevating the art medium’s wonders and status in the arts industry.