Art is her chosen form of release. Solenn is not at all the confrontational type; she prefers to keep her emotions in check. This is why she makes it a point to devote ample time to her craft, usually from eight in the morning to nine in the evening on Sundays. When taping schedules are cancelled at the last minute or when she’s waiting for her turn to go on set, she sketches and brainstorms.

“There is always a way of making time for things if you really put your mind to it,” Solenn adds. She loves to paint people. Solenn agrees with the adage that eyes are the window to someone’s soul, which amplifies the thought that people can be incredibly powerful to look at. “All my subjects are real people—I cannot invent,” she clarifies. “Some of those who see my work come up to me and say things like, ‘Oh, I love the colours you chose,’ but really, I did not choose anything because what goes onto my canvas is what the world has shown me. If you take time out to really look at and understand your surroundings, you will find things that jump out at you, too.” She also feels that human subjects can be representative of different ideas to different people, depending on how the viewer might be feeling at a particular moment in time.

Her first exhibition, Our People, marked her formal foray into the art world in April of 2016. Several years in the making, it was a showcase of 25 paintings, mostly of faces encountered by Solenn or her family while travelling. She adds, “Looking back, it was an art experience—nothing too serious, nothing too structured—that was more of a means for me to share to the world what I could do as an artist than anything else.”

A charming tale precedes the conceptualisation of her second exhibition. It all began when her young nephew, Kaeden, wanted to try his hand at painting during one of his visits to her home. Solenn gave him a canvas and brushes so he could go to town, but Kaeden was far more interested in making his mark on her work. “After repeated attempts to ward him off, I relented and let him paint on my canvas. Kaeden had zero interest in the brush; he preferred to spread the paint around with his hands. When he flew back to Singapore, I realised that I could work with what he created and painted on top of it. The collaboration was so organic and authentic—I tried creating my own background using a similar style, but it didn’t feel right at all.” And each time Kaeden came to visit, he and Solenn would get to work, slowly allowing her to come up with a collection of paintings that would later comprise her new exhibition.

“Many people would come and tell me that they liked my paintings, but felt the subjects looked too sad,” she shares. “Through Kaeden’s colours, the works were given new life—the harshness of reality is still present, but a glimpse of hope courtesy of the child shines through.” This was the message that Solenn took with her when she travelled to Samar to film an episode of Scenezoned, an online video series by Globe that followed various personalities in pursuit of a unique personal goal.

Solenn set out to find new people that would inspire her art, and she found what she was looking for in the children of Biri Island. “During my trip, I saw so many things that make the Philippines what it is: sometimes weird, sometimes funny, but so charming that I wanted to encapsulate it through my art,” she says. “Their lives are very simple; they find contentment in what many of us keep taking for granted.” Her experience encouraged her to donate a portion of her exhibition sales to Kalipay Negrense, a foundation that provides support to street children.

Setting the exhibition—which Solenn christened Kalsada—up at the Provenance Gallery would prove to be a bit of a challenge for the artist. This time, a mere display was not in the cards, for she wanted a set-up that would serve as a come-on to younger audiences that were not necessarily art enthusiasts. Solenn came up with the idea of designing a set that resembled a typical Filipino street scene, complete with a sari-sari store display where exhibition viewers flocked to for Instagram posts. “I was so amazed by the number of people who went that I cried,” she shares. “The crowd was not just limited to the opening night; there were days when I would drop in unannounced and it would still be packed. I can never forget those girls who came up to me in tears, saying that my work had touched them. I was so happy.” 

She is pleased at how quickly the local art scene is growing. More people are developing an interest and appreciation for art, breathing new life into galleries and inspiring more artists to showcase their work. “Today, there is a community that is slowly yet steadily growing, so it’s still not too late,” Solenn says. “In the case of the much younger crowd, I don’t know if, let’s say, a visit to Art Fair, is a school requirement, but them doing this of their own volition is a pleasant thought to entertain.”

When she was in Paris, the environment felt very welcoming, inspiring her to while her days away in galleries, simply doodling on her sketchpad or enjoying the ever-changing exhibitions. She is hoping our local museums will follow suit, keeping audiences engaged by changing up stale attractions (“Sometimes, what we have on display here is still what was on exhibition way back when we were kids. When you’ve been once, that’s it.”) and being more receptive to budding talents.

Solenn is not merely doing art for art’s sake. Her paintings are conduits for her advocacies, and she hopes to be able to reach more people through her work. “There are so many things in life that frustrate me, and I find myself actively thinking up ways on how to educate people,” she says. “Recently, I co-designed some fanny packs with Our Tribe, a local brand that makes good quality leather products. For each pack that was sold, a bag of school supplies was donated to a kid in need. I’m also starting a project with Save Palawan Seas together with my brother Erwan and Jacques Branellec of Jewelmer; I love diving and I am saddened by how the corals might disintegrate sooner than we think due to ocean acidification. I hope my art—some of which can be interpreted as political—is helping send the message that we need to put our heads together to create realistic solutions that we can act on.”

She also feels that the present society has grown too self-involved, painstakingly grooming itself into a more likable version of what it actually is. “It is inevitable that we end up spending all this time on our mobile devices, but do we exert as much effort in reaching out to others as we do into maintaining our perfectly curated Instagram feeds?” Solenn wonders.

“When was the last time you walked up to someone to ask how they are today instead of stopping by to gossip about a particular person’s post on social media? And it’s not just our generation that’s suffering from this, but the young ones even more so because they’re the ones growing up with gadgets in hand. Yes, there is plenty of good learning content that can be downloaded from the internet, but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be online all the time. This is one of the reasons why I have long dreamt of opening an art school for kids, to teach them the basics and impart to them the value of learning new things outside the boundaries of technology.”

Her unapologetic spirit inspires a fearlessness in her art, which she hopes to extend to other artists, both emerging and established. “To really get our messages across, we must be our most authentic selves,” Solenn advises. “There will always be things we do that others will judge us for, but if we are not hurting or offending anyone, we should not pay attention to those voices because they don’t really matter.” For her, merely working within what society deems acceptable allows us to lose track of who we are. Putting unnecessary restrictions on ourselves may stifle our creativity, leaving us uninspired.

“I want us to become more open to the idea of growing as a community by getting more involved with each other and with things that matter,” she concludes. “If my art should serve a purpose to others, let it be the push for our generation—and I believe that we are capable of so many wonderful things— to become a smarter and more caring one.”

Photography by Paolo Pineda, Digital Imaging by MJ Suayan, Creative Direction by Anton San Diego and Styling by Monique Madsen.