Take a quick scan of the room where you are right now and immediately you may be confronted by old receipts, buttons torn from clothes, ribbons, coins, postcards and their small windows of stamps, things that don’t have any visible use but which you are still saving for “later,” and other bric-a-bracs you accumulate amid the larger and what you consider as more important possessions. Collectively, these things amount close to nothing, on the verge of being thrown away and never to be seen again.

But these objects—small and mute as they are—are still potentially useful. They may re-serve their old purpose or they may be given voice as art. Conceptual art, mixed media and found object are friendly territories for “things” not only because of their physical properties (their hue, size and texture) but because of the ready commentaries they proffer on what kind of life we live. Our material culture reflects our tastes, choices and aspirations. It presents a polished mirror on how we live as a society.

Stella Tansengco-Schapero has been accumulating “stuff” for some time now. A well-traveled investment banker, she purposely looks or stumbles upon objects, usually from the late 19th to early 20th century, that are resonant with her Filipino-Chinese background and life as an expatriate. They make up what she calls as her “art stash,” to be consulted each time she is prompted by her muse to create a piece. All the years of hunting, appropriating, re-purposing, juxtaposing and creating art out of them have paid off: on Sept. 12, she will have her first one-woman show called “Art Without Borders” opening at the Ayala Museum.

Hunting for these objects has turned into an art itself. “My husband is amused by the reactions of dealers when I walk into an antique store and ask: ‘Do you have anything Asian, old and flat-ish?’” she begins. “I am not shy to ask people for stamps off their letters, scrap wrapping paper or odd buttons…The markets in Hong Kong and Guangzhou, even Quiapo, are the fertile hunting grounds for the semi-precious stones I use on my pieces.”

What provided the creative spark for her initial piece—and eventually her life as an artist—was her son Jacob “My first assemblage was an effort to recycle a canvas that accidentally had his toddler fingerprints on them,” she narrates. “When he was younger, he would bring home, for my art stash, odd bits from Chinese restaurants or walks in Hyde Park…Now 12 years old, an avid reader and a creative writer, he helps me with titles for my finished work…Importantly, he nudges me to stay true to my ‘signature look’ which echoes my strong interest in the late 19th to early 20th century. And you will find his fingerprints discreetly on my work, a reminder of that initial spark.”

The crux of her works of course lies in the artist being able to cohere the disparate elements into a unified vision. Certainly, the objects provide the visual quality and heft to the work  but it is the mind of the artist—and the quality of that mind—that will work its way to piecing them together, providing the sense of wholeness, modulation and balance. 

“When I get the urge to start a work,” describes Stella of her creative process, “I usually poke through my art inventory, rediscover my finds and lay bits out on the floor of our flat – then over a few hours or days, ideas gel. Often a piece doesn’t work just with what I have on hand – and an obsessive hunt for that missing something begins. Occasionally a new find may be the catalyst for me to start a piece.”

At the onset, Stella doesn’t work with a specific theme in mind, just allowing the pieces to talk to her and guide her on what seem to belong together. From that point on, she notices connections, resonances, contrasts and from there moves on in heightening—either through typography, her own drawings or pockets of color—the theme of the work. “I work on several pieces at a time,” she says. “Some are composed and finished over a week, others over months, as I create a story, balance colors, images and textures, or unbalance them.”

Stella’s range of subjects is wide and profound—migration, her Filipino-Chinese heritage and ancestry; religious, social and cultural issues. Some of those who have seen her works detect a tone of social realism, a commitment to reveal the ails of the country which she considers (despite having lived most of her adult life in the US, UK and Hong Kong) as her first and foremost home. “I never fancied myself an activist even during my days at UP-Diliman in the late ‘70s,” she says. “I choose instead to contribute to society as a hard-working professional and a committed family member…My involvement in initiatives keeps some issues close to the surface, so I guess it is inevitable that these are reflected in some of my art.”

Part of her initiatives is being able to help the less-fortunate. Proceeds from “Art Without Borders” will go to the International Care Ministries (ICM). “One cannot but want to be part of a solution given the many challenges Filipinos face,” she says. “Ours is a small contribution to ICM; we fund a pre-school in Bacolod which each year teaches 25 5-7 year olds to read and write, in order to get into Grade 1.”

Though having discovered art relatively late in life, Stella affirms art’s intrinsic value to the promotion of well-being. “Art is therapy for the soul, great for re-charging and an outlet for creative energy – much like a sabbatical or a new hobby…I am enjoying reinventing myself after my frenetic life as a working mom/banker, and art is one of my new pursuits,” she concludes.