‘DOCS WHO LOVE ARTS’: Doctors translate quarantine pain into visual power

By Joseph B.A. Marzan

 

Doctors have turned to art to showcase their talents outside of the confines of hospitals and clinics, and as an escape through the long, winding days, especially during this time, as the region continues to bear the brunt of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

The After Clinic Group, a group of doctors who do art in their spare time, introduced their surgical mask-themed works at the opening of the Iloilo Art Sale 2020 last July 25, 2020 at SM City Iloilo.

Dr. Cynthia Salcedo, one of the members of the After Clinic Group, said that they do not consider themselves as artists, but as “doctors who love to do art”, who look up to and support the local arts community in the region.

 

“In reality, we don’t consider ourselves as artists, we are doctors who love to do art, and we would like to be patrons and supporters of the arts community. It is an honor, and very humbling on our part, to be here exhibiting with our mentors and people we look up to,” Salcedo said.

 

For the doctors, according to Salcedo, art is their escape and healing process from the stress brought about by their regular grind.

 

“Arts is a lifeline. We believe there is a body and a soul. Usually, although we say the spirit is willing, the body is weak, but often the spirit gives up before the body, and thus we have depression, and the body goes where the spirit goes. To us who believe in that, it’s an essential connect for renewal, for restoration. In our daily grind, we meet patients, and we healthcare workers, we also get depressed, we also get tired,” she said.

 

She said that it is also an escape from the restrictions and precision needed in the medical profession.

 

“Whenever we make a prescription, we make a precision-oriented decision, you have to have an exact dose and exact name and everything has to be precise. When we do surgery, every stroke of the knife matters, and since I’m an ophthalmologist, when the knife slips, it could mean blindness. We’re in that environment where we’re expected to really toe the line. There’s really a lot of pressure most of the time, and engagement in the arts gives us that freedom because we are freed from restrictions. There’s no hard and fast rule about how thin the strokes should be, you can use anything, and when you make a mistake, sometimes it can turn into something beautiful,” she said.

Her artwork, titled “Masinaligon nga Pag-ampos”, is made of a wooden branch with clay hands at the end, a clay-made child being cradled with a surgical mask and layers of N95 masks.

The ophthalmologist made the piece with her husband, who does woodwork, during the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) in Iloilo City from March to May of this year.

Salcedo said she found the wooden branch in her backyard, which had given her the idea to come up with the piece.

 

“When I found this piece of wood, it looked to me like these are shoulders and arms lifted in a surrender. As physicians during this pandemic, we feel helpless, not just us, but everybody else. We feel helpless, and there’s just that feeling of dejection, so my message is that we don’t need to surrender. This is a surrender not out of defeat, but surrendering to the one who holds our future, our health, our well-being, because healing is divine, so we are instruments of healing but the Great Physician is the one who decides. This was inspired by Psalm 91, which speaks of the comprehensive protection that the Lord gives us, we are bound all over, on all sides, above and below.” Salcedo said.

 

For her, even the hands and the child made out of clay showed symbolism of human mortality.

 

“Clay also speaks of our mortality, and like clay, molded by the potter’s hand. That’s why, to me, these are hand-made, it’s not perfectly made, that’s rough because that’s how we are. We are not perfect, and us healthcare workers, we are tired, we are cracked, we are degraded, especially during this time, but we do have a perfect God who is able to do what we cannot. Everything is symbolic to me. The masks, I used them before, they’re already soiled so I just did repurposing. In a way, it gives more meaning because it’s something I already wore,” Salcedo said.

 

‘ARTWORKS IN THE TIME OF COVID-19’

Salcedo and her fellow doctors are part of more than a hundred artists who contributed to the sale, which was part of Museo Iloilo’s Breath of Life: Artworks in the Time of COVID-19 exhibit.

This exhibit was conceptualized by the Museo Iloilo with the Catholic Women’s League of San Jose Placer Parish in Iloilo City.

The Breath of Life started through a Facebook group with artists and enthusiasts, and was then physically launched on June 10 at the Museo Iloilo.

All of the participating artworks feature masks, which have become a symbol during this time of the pandemic, as national and local governments have mandated the public to wear masks.

The exhibit’s chief organizer, Rex Aguado, said that the exhibit was conceptualized to transform masks from a symbol of fear and despair into a symbol of hope and healing.

 

“The face masks became the symbol of hope, togetherness, instead of healing. It means that we as human beings will surmount this challenge, and through the power of art, we will be better. Because of masks, people have become anonymous and we don’t know the people around us. What we did was we said no. Masks do not have to mean social distancing or covering, it can mean art,” Aguado said.

 

Dr. Jessie Glen Alonsabe of the Department of Health-Western Visayas Center for Health Development (DOH-WV CHD) said that the exhibit was beneficial to the campaign against COVID-19.

 

“I think this will give highlight to the efforts of the DOH during this pandemic. It is symbolic because masks are one of the very important preventive measures. We would like to give credit to the artists for highlighting masks in their art and giving artistic twists during this time,” Dr. Alonsabe said.

 

The Iloilo Art Sale 2020 will run until August 7, 2020 and is also available through SM City Iloilo’s Your City Shopper platform.