TARANGNAN, SAMAR – A 2nd year BSED-Social Studies student of the College of Education, Samar State University (SSU) went viral by making portraits on fern leaves, which are locally known as salikupkop.
After discovering Ryan Rio-Legatub Managaysay’s talent, his mentor Mr. Jhonil Bajado posted the portraits on social media and reached more than a thousand of shares.
His leaf art was featured on Philippine Star, Tacloban Today, and even made it on the front page of the Manila Bulletin.
Hon. Sharee Ann Tan (Samar Representative) even shared the photo of her portrait carved by Managaysay on her Facebook fan page.
SSU President, Dr. Marilyn D. Cardoso, tagged his artwork as an “epitome of resilience”.
The portraits circulated positive comments, the netizens even stated that it was “one of the best artworks” and that the student is “immensely talented”.
According to Mr. Bajado, Managaysay was at first hesitant to show him Mr. Bajado’s portrait, his first leaf art.
“His first leaf art was a portrait of mine. He was not confident to show it to me at first, because he did not consider it worthy my attention, he said. In fact I saw it on his My Day post first, before he sent it to me via Messenger, on my request. Knowing how unassuming this kid is, I know he was just hesitant to show the artistic work of his hand,” Mr. Bajado stated on his post.
His mentor encouraged him to make more portraits and to his surprise, Managsay sent him the portraits he did in a short span of time.
“I cannot help but be overjoyed with his God-given talent and share and tell it to the world. These artworks are, to me, a symbolic representation of the Bisayan resilience and the Filipino artistry, who are always able to find good vibes despite life’s adversity,” stated Mr. Bajado.
Among the portraits he carved on the fern leaves were the faces of Pope Francis, Manny Pacquiao, Ms. Jessica Soho, Willie Revillame, Yorme Isko Moreno, Raffy Tulfo, Boy Abunda, Sharee Ann Tan, President Rodrigo Duterte, Dr. Marilyn Dejecasion Cardoso (SSU President), and Mr. Jhonil Bajado.
Managaysay accepts commissions for his artworks which he uses to help his family during the pandemic.
Photo Credit: Mr. Jhonil Bajado & Mr. Ryan Rio-Legatub Managaysay
