Evelyn del Rosario-Garcia never enrolled in any formal art classes, except as a child. Back then, her mother, Helen, made sure her kids had some summer activity like drawing, cooking, voice or piano lessons at home.
Yet her caricatures made of retaso [“retazo” is the Spanish name for cloth swatches, “retaso” is its Filipino counterpart] often surprise or startle relatives and friends for their distinctive uniqueness.
‘The Holy Family’
Garcia’s art form began with the family’s constant supply of retaso courtesy of her sister Chic Francisco who had a fashion design school for 20 years.
When Garcia returned home to Manila from California in 2003, her mother once again tested her, this time to do something with all the retasos they had.
“You’re creative, I want you to create something with them,” the matriarch challenged.
Garcia’s first portrait was that of her mother, and from that experiment, the Caricature Retaso Art was born. Since then, she has sewn “caricature retaso portraits,” which bear an uncannily close resemblance to their subjects.
‘Santa with Rudolph and Blitzen’
In time for the season, the latest creations of Garcia’s fertile imagination are scenes of Christmas such as Santa with Rudolph and the Holy Family. Each art piece takes a week of daily sewing from morning until late evening.
Garcia could be the country’s only artist who creates portraits out of cloth, and these have been commissioned at least twenty times.
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