By Dartagnan Kyle Bullas
Raymon Maliwat, a Filipino visual artist based in Vancouver, Canada, was born in Manila on October 20, 1964. He earned his Fine Arts degree in 1988 from the Philippine Women’s University where he majored in Advertising. Before he even graduated, he was already carving his name out on the Art Industry as he won different competitions like Metrobank Art and Design Excellence (MADE) in 1987.
He worked as a full-time professor in his alma mater where he also taught Fine Arts for students majoring in advertising and sculpture. He also worked in special effects for Regal Films for shows like Tiyanak and Diyesebel. Before he immigrated, his artworks were already being displayed from different exhibition in the Philippines.
In 2003, he moved to Canada as an immigrant where he worked as an art instructor. He finished his study of Fine Arts at Emily Carr Institutes in 2005. Since then, he has been a part of different art exhibitions in Canada, Cuba, Japan, Bangladesh, and the United States of America.
Raymon has dedicated his whole life to art that even when he was in his lowest, his love for the art saved him
Fighting a losing battle
Last June of 2021, Raymon was rushed into the hospital in Manila Medical Center after experiencing pain. He had an internal bleeding and that was how he found out that he is already have Stage 3 leukemia and lymphoma. He spent almost 10 days in the hospital, and he wanted to go out because his hospital bills are already growing. Raymon said that healthcare in Canada is free that is why he wanted to go back badly.
When he returned, he felt like he was dying already as he was in need of blood. Blood supply was scarce in the Philippines, but Raymon said that there was more than enough supply of blood for him in Canada.
In the process of his blood transfusion, he almost tasted death. He was unconscious for two days.
“Iyong two days na ‘yon, ‘yon ‘yong sinasabi ko na parang nakakakita na ako ng kung ano-ano. Meron nang liwanag. Totoo palang ganoon na makakakita ka ng ganoon,” he said. In that moment, he wanted to close his eyes because he is afraid that staring at the light means embracing death already.
After those two days of an exhausting experience, he woke up. He is baffled about what he is feeling since he felt strong waking up as if nothing has happened. This moment pushed him into his realizations that this is a second chance for him.
Obviously, the road to recovery is not a walk in the park. He had undergone different tests, chemotherapy, and PET scans. His body took a toll because he is in constant pain. He lost weight and his hair.
But during those times, he always convinces his self that he can survive it. His mindset was that in order for him to fully recover, he must believe that he will recover. And so, he always prays for help, especially when he is in pain.
One of the few things that helped him in this journey was his love and passion for the art. Raymon said that Art makes him happy, so he will do art to release some stress. However, his condition was limiting him to do sculptures. Then he remembered that he was also teaching painting and so he thought that maybe he can do painting instead.
“Siya ‘yong pinaka idealistic para sa akin para hindi ako gumalaw, magbuhat,” Raymon mentioned.
Landscape of the mind
The “Landscape of the Mind” came from the idea of him using his imagination to produce art. Because of his experience in mixed media painting, using symbols for self-expression, along with the visual elements of spiritual, unique, original, creative, and positive idea became his identity.
On his way to recovery, he was able to produce ten masterpieces. His experience during these dire times were translated into his artworks. Raymon said that when he is experiencing pain, he uses the color Red to express it. The Green in his paintings represent the moments that he is feeling okay.
For this collection, he uses birds, ants, paper boats, and paper planes as a representation of his childhood. When he was painting, he said that he was longing for the moments when he was genuinely happy just like when he was still a kid. He asked himself what he usually plays when he was young and back then, there were no computers yet, no phones.
Moreover, he wants to show through his exhibit that art can be a form of medicine. He wanted to show the world that he is a living testament that aside from the medicines, doing what makes you happy can help you heal yourself.
Conquering the unconquerable
“Acceptance, ‘yon ‘yong pinaka the best,” Raymon explains that for him, it helped him to recover when he received that news that he had cancer. He said it made him braver because knowing about his illness made him prepared for what is coming.
“Mind over matter.” He always kept this in mind. He cannot deny the fact that his body was suffering but his mindset and what he did to help himself out were the contributing factors for his recovery.
Last February 2022, he was declared cancer free.
His journey to recovery that ended up in the creation of ten paintings made him realize why not share it to the people. For the second time around, through the help of Metrobank Foundation, Raymon’s artworks will be witnessed by the world in his upcoming one-man show art exhibition. In 1987, Raymon received the award for “Best Entry” in painting for Metrobank Art and Design Excellence (MADE) and later was granted a 30,000 worth of sponsorship for his one-man show in the Cultural Center of the Philippines back in 1996. His pieces will be displayed in the Thombayan Artspace located in Makati City starting from January 21 up until the 22nd of February 2023.