The SPUQC Museum and the Archives

Tropical Rain Forest Model

Of all landscapes I chose the tropical rain forest because it is the richest of all ecosystems the Philippines should be proud of, being one of the countries endowed with this natural wealth. It is for this reason that, of all ecosystems or biomes, the tropical rain forest closely resembles the description of the biblical Paradise. It is not only a living bank of biological diversity; it is the most important sanctuary of living things on earth.

To paint such a big wall is no easy task. It is not unusual to face a blank wall, literally speaking, and not know what to do at first, even with all the colors and tools on hand and the topic in mind. Should I start at the center and move outward, or from both sides slowly progressing inward? Or should I divide the wall into parts, work on them one by one, and then unify them at the end?

Covered Walk with Dead Ends

How the mural was conceived is a story in itself. When the new covered walk was finished, I saw something unique about it. It was not so much about its pillars that arc tile red and its floor set in sensitive gothic design, both complementing its undulating ceiling, a series of arches, solid and immaculately white. As a whole there is a touch of Greco-Roman architecture. The structure runs parallel with the elevated MRT tracks at the other side of the wall along Aurora Boulevard. It takes some fifty steps to negotiate the length of the new covered walk from end to end, bridging the St. Paul Building with the administration offices on the west and the theater-chapel-plaza complex on the east.

There is a drawback in the structure, though. It lacked the perspectives of distance and continuity because both ends are blocked. Toward Gilmore Avenue is the perimeter wall, while the other is a dead end, this time a solid wall, 12 feet wide and 10 feet high. The builder must have anticipated this problem; but apparently he was able to achieve a functional design.

I envisioned the dead ends as ideal locations for mural paintings - something to "break" the dead ends and lead to the realm of art, and perhaps create a psychological experience of being part of the scene or subject. But what is it that can effectively bring about this effect?

On one occasion I visited Sister Teresita Bayona, SPC, and casually informed her of my observation. I accompanied her to a spot where she could view the place and, as she pondered about it, I suggested that it would be nicely fit for a mural of a tropical rain forest complementary to the theme of the new SPCQ Eco-Sanctuary, one of the projects Sister Tess initiated upon re-assuming the school presidency. A yes and a wide smile gave me the go signal.

...and Heaven and Nature Sing

Christmas was already in the air and the Siberian High was bringing in the chills. Carol music was being played in malls, schools and homes. I was engrossed with my work when I heard some Paulinians watching me paint singing a familiar song. For this particular occasion something becalmed from that song that became the central theme of the mural.

"...and heaven and nature sing,
and heaven and nature sing,
and heaven, and heaven and nature sing."

What does this mean? The idea of Nature represents the entire universe in a state of perfection. Nature is one. It unites heaven and earth. It connects human beings and the stars as one family.

Little did I know my ecology. For a subject I teach in college and in the graduate school, I depend much on formulas and equations, principles and case studies. My knowledge about the environment is structured and formal. I use module maps or course syllabi based on accepted teaching techniques and references. My approach is comparative analysis. I am a judge of the beautiful and the ugly, the do's and the don'ts. At times I am a Utopian; at another, a conformist.

Little did I realize that the order of Nature is not merely determined by laws applied as ecological tenets, but by a divine law that determines its arrangement - the subordination of the means to the end, and the parts to the whole. Many of us are ignorant of this law, or we seem to forget or disregard it as we relentlessly work to master and exploit the earth.

In our apparent failure to preserve Nature, perhaps it is time to look at ecology with the essence of this popular Christmas song - a song that makes the whole year Christmas. Ecology is "heaven and nature singing together". Only then can we truly understand the term, balance of Nature - a kind of dynamic balance that leads to homeostasis - that, in spite of the turmoil and change that characterize natural process and the time that is actually takes place, the ultimate end is always a balanced system. We have to look beyond books to understand biological diversity and its application in Nature in such a common saying, "In diversity there is unity". The general rule is that the wider diversity is in terms of the number of living species, and in terms of the number of natural habitats where they live, the more the biosphere becomes closely knit, richer and more stable. Undoubtedly, all this is part of a divine grand design. Read more about Images of Nature in Mural...