Marites van Vianen

Works on Display

  • <p>An oil painting on canvas. There are about five bodies of varying skin tones intertwined in a<br>fight. They are all wearing gray colored shorts, some of them shirtless, and one wearing a tan<br>colored sweater. The people are wearing white tennis shoes with different countries&amp;#39; flags on them. Within the fight are the flags for the Philippines, Italy, United States, and Bolivia. Scattered in front of the people are more white shoes with the flags for France and the United Kingdom. To the bottom left is an open red shoebox with a white shoe that has the flag of China and a white COVID mask.</p>
  • <p>An oil painting on canvas. In the center is the face of a person who has tan skin and brown<br>eyes. The bottom half of their face is covered by a pink COVID mask. The person has black hair that is highlighted with red and pink, fading into the different pinks within the background.</p>
  • <p>An oil painting on canvas. In the center is the face of a person who has tan skin and brown<br>eyes. The bottom half of their face is covered by a blue and pink COVID mask. The person has long hair that is highlighted with shades of blue and light pink, fading into the different blues and pinks within the background.</p>
  • <p>An oil painting on canvas. There are about five bodies of varying skin tones intertwined in a<br>fight. They are all wearing gray colored shorts, some of them shirtless, and one wearing a tan<br>colored sweater. The people are wearing white tennis shoes with different countries&amp;#39; flags on them. Within the fight are the flags for Italy, United States, United Kingdom, and Bolivia. One of the people in the fight has their arm stretched to the left side, holding a burning white shoe with the flag of India by a shoelace in their blue gloved hand. Scattered in front of the people are more white shoes with the flags for France, Germany, Philippines, Mexico, Brazil, and the Netherlands. To the bottom left is an open red shoebox with a white shoe that has the flag of China and a white COVID mask.</p>

Marites Van Vianen, Paris, France Oil on Canvas

Art of Resilience

As a Filipino living in France, the pandemic was extremely difficult. Being far away from my daughters and being confined in my own home with limited materials, I felt compelled to create an art that captures the courage I needed to persevere without the support of my daughters, as well as the fear and uncertainty I experienced during the pandemic. The “Art of Resilience” project represents how I, as a Filipino artist living in France, found this courage.

During COVID-19, resilience is the capability of people to positively, creatively express themselves despite the negativity that results from being aware of what is happening during the pandemic. It embodies the crisis we face in different countries fighting to survive during the early impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic; my home country (Philippines) especially struggled as the nation’s healthcare faltered and faced another challenge-food shortage.

Additional Work

  • <p>An oil painting on canvas. A woman with long black hair and tan skin lays on a mountain, her eyes closed and hand under her head as if asleep. She is nude except for the flag of the Philippines, covering her like a blanket from the waist down. Covering the bottom of her face is a white COVID mask. The mountain is green and a patch of it is on fire, blazing yellow and orange while burning the greenery below it. To the right of the piece is a volcano smaller than the mountain, a plume of smoke rising out of the mouth of it. In the foreground is a deep blue body of water with the woman and flag reflecting along the surface. Bright blue and wispy white clouds fill the sky in the remainder of the piece.</p>