Paulina Constancia (born Maria Paulina Constancia Cornejo Lee) is a Filipino-Canadian artist known for her work on canvas, textiles, and found materials, sometimes incorporating stitching. She is associated with the Paulina Constancia Museum of Naïve art (MoNA). Constancia's art has been exhibited worldwide, including in countries like the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Mexico, Greece, Slovenia, and Poland. She has also displayed her art in various cities in the U.S. and Canada.

Career

Her career began in the early 1990s, and in 1997, her art was featured on the back cover of the December edition of Reader's Digest. In 2000 a collection of her painted quilts titled "Kleur en ik in de geheime tuin" ("Color and me in the secret garden") was showcased at the Centrum voor Kunst en Cultuur in Hoofddorp and Kunst 2001 Gallery in Badhoevedorp, presented by the VHC-Vereniging Haarlemmermeer-Cebu (sister cities organization of Haarlemmermeer and Cebu). In 1997, Constancia was featured in a show called "Here's to Sunny" at the Philippine Center in New York City, presented by the Philippine Centennial Coordinating Council of Northeast U.S.

From 2012 to 2015, Constancia maintained an art blog called Daily Dose of Art (DDoA).^[1]

In 2013 and 2014 Constancia's collection "Moments of Motherhood" (MOM) was exhibited in Japan, Malaysia, and Indonesia.^[2]

In 2016, Paulina was one of the eight naive artists invited to participate in the 49th International Meeting of Naïve Artists at the Trebnje Gallery of Naïve Artists in Slovenia. In 2020, Paulina's art "Covid Times at the Park" was the feature/cover piece for the XIII Art Naif Festiwal (naif art festival) in Katowice, Poland.

Paulina is currently based in Canada and actively creates art in her home studio, blogs, and teaches arts and crafts.

Style

Constancia is a self-described multifaceted artist and has described her art as naive art.^[2] She is best known for bright-colored and whimsical narratives painted on quilts and tiles that are also shown and reflected in her writing. Sunstar Daily's Leticia Suarez said of her work, "Her paintings are like a breath of green air in the local art scene. It's like going from the dusty street into a woody hide-away that's full of magical secrets."^[3]

Writing

She has published a bilingual collection of poetry called Brazos Abiertos/Open Arms (World Poetry Publishing, Vancouver 2003)^[4] and short stories Cuentos Hispano-filipinos/Hispano-Philippine Stories (Central Books, Manila, 2009).^[5]

References

External links

• Official website
• DAILY DOSE OF ART | As prescribed by Paulina Constancia
• Her illustrations can also be seen in this blog: Utok Pinoy
• PAULINA CONSTANCIA MoNA | Museum of Naive Art
• Philippine Centennial Coordinating Council of Northeast USA