The Filipino Street Art Project is a documentary film and multimedia web venture aimed at exploring Filipino life and culture through the booming street scene.
We recently had the opportunity to sit down with Lee Salvador, whose unique style and iconic character have made him a favorite of the project. Lee is soon to have his first solo gallery show, “EvoLeetion,” at the Pocket Universe Art Collective in Makati on August 27th.
Tell us a bit about yourself, Lee.
I’m from Cavite. I also grew up here. I have three brothers and one sister and I’m the second eldest. My mom took fine arts when she was in college, and I heard stories from her that my great grand father was a painter. My dad lives in California. I studied Business Management in college.
What do you do now for work and for fun? What drives your professional career and what are your hobbies?
I work as a project manager at Quipr. It’s like an ad agency but for social media. When I’m not at the office, I’m a visual artist/street artist. I design and paint shoes. I also love to paint in the streets, or on any anything that I see that I can paint on. I also participate in some exhibits. My first solo show will be in September 2013 at Pocket Universe on Guijo Street in Makati.
How did you first get into art and, particularly, street art?
I guess the day that I was born. I really love this quote from Picasso, “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.”
My aunt used to tell me that she always found me in the backyard picking up a stick and doodling in the mud. I guess I was three or four years old back then. When I was in elementary school we didn’t have much, so what I used to do was draw on any paper that I could find: the backs of old book or notebook pages, old calendars, really any paper that I could find.
When I was still in college I couldn’t find time to to draw and sketch any more when I worked in a corporation for 3 years. I felt I was missing half of my life. I couldn’t resist art anymore so I resigned to focus on painting again. Four years ago I started to doodle on my own and explore painting. After two years I met this guy who inspired me to paint the street, met other artists here in Cavite and became really good friends with them, and now we’re called Cavity Collective.
Why do you make the artworks that you do? What motivates you?
Painting on anything and anywhere just calms me. Art reminds me that life is beautiful and worth living.
What motivates me are the people who only see what their eyes want to see, people who like to judge others, people who set standards, and people who treat other people based on their status symbol. I believe in equality and I stand by it. I want people who can’t afford to go to an art gallery to see what’s going on. Art is not just for rich people, it’s for everyone. That’s how I see life as well.
What messages are you trying to convey? What stories are you trying to tell?
I’m trying to tell everyone that life isn’t fair; we struggle, feel pain, and are uncomfortable, but it’s there that we need to fight and realize that we can turn negatives into positives. I’m doing street art for the kids who who can’t go to an art gallery or malls to see colorful posters and artworks, and for those kids who don’t have TV in their homes.
Most of my artworks feature a monster that is coming out of a heart shaped hole in the chest of a blue character. It represents that everyone has a bad side, but that we can work on it. We can still make our lives worth living even though there are negative things around us or bad experiences that happen to us.
How would you characterize your style?
It’s colorful, not proportional, like a drawing of a 5 year-old kid who doesn’t care if it looks good or not, just an honest piece.
My artworks represent lowbrow art. I want people to see that it’s not how good you are or how many painting techniques you know, but how much you believe in what you do. Most of my works are inspired by moral awareness based on how I see what is around me and how each of us affects everyone around us.
Why the blue man? Could you explain his significance?
Actually, it’s blue-green. Blue is the color of truth and its also a good color for pajamas. My character represents the true personality of a human, and the best stage of being true is when we’re asleep. I believe that sleeping is the most honest stage of who we are. As for green, it defines self-respect. I respect everyone’s individual personality and views, and how they fight for what they believe in.
Check out our album of Lee’s work on Facebook.
