Story & photo by Rizal Raoul Reyes
SAMANTHA Kaspar, the 19-year-old Filipino-Swiss artist, brings a beautiful and heartwarming perspective to the local art scene. What makes Samantha’s works special is the inspiration she brings to special children to harness their potential.
Through the support of parents Martin and Mitzi and the Center for Possibilities, Samantha auctioned off around 30 to 40 artworks in her self-styled exhibit on January 28 at the RCBC Plaza in Makati City. Some were shawls, while others were her paintings. She uses several media for her work.
“We wanted to show the gamut of her abilities,” Mitzi said. “Samantha works primarily on piña silk using silk paints. She also uses acrylic paint on canvas sometimes.”
According to her father Martin, Samantha has “a consistent style with a lot of edges and lines”.
“Her artworks can be very linear,” he said. “She also has this certain way of giving shapes to her images, which aren’t necessarily realistic but are more cartoonish.”
Samantha promotes her roots by painting Filipino-themed artworks. She will present a component of local culture when she heads to the Philippine Center in New York for the Fashion Arts Autism Benefit (Faab) on April 7.
The Faab serves as a venue to showcase the artistic talents of children with special needs. Samantha, diagnosed with autism when she was 18 months old, is one of eight artists chosen to present their paintings on piña silk to be translated into clothing by featured designers for the fashion show by Patis Tesoro and Anthony Legarda. Master weaver India Legaspi is credited for teaching the artists the technique of piña silk painting.
Samantha hopes to fund her trip with the proceeds of her auction.
After the auction, the Manila Symphony Orchestra (MSO) under the baton of Arturo Molina, conducted the concert Soundtracks and Symphonies. Annotated by Jeffrey Solares, the MPO concert paid tribute to John Williams, as well as featured pieces from music greats, such as Beethoven, Mozart and Bach.
The concert is for the benefit of Special Education (SPEd) centers that have been the focus of the Center for Possibilities recent efforts. The SPEd centers promote learning to indigent persons with special needs. Each center is operated by a teacher trained in the SPEd division of the Reach International School.
The Sagada SPED Center is now open and aims to introduce a series of livelihood and vocational programs that will be teaching skills for income-generating activities.
“Caring for special kids is very taxing, because it’s usually just a one-income household so we also need to help the parents improve their finances,” CFP founder Dolores Cheng explained.
Cheng said they plan to install more facilities in each center. She added they are also in the process of doing due diligence by determining the number of special children in all the barangays relevant to Norzagaray, Bulacan.
“Next will be an orientation for all the parents within the community,” she said, adding the CFP also plans for the provision of testing, diagnosis and analysis for the children with special needs.
Cheng hopes people will appreciate more the creativity of people like Samantha and the support of her parents Mitzi and Martin.
Image credits: Rizal Raoul Reyes