Woman bewitched by Eros.

(From Philippine Daily Inquirer)

Byline: Gino Dormiendo, Contributor

THE IMAGES are at once profoundly sublime and supremely seductive.

These are introspective if intimate explorations of the woman, who, in the raging gender war, has asserted herself. From their creator's point of view, the works mirror the quintessential woman as she finally breaks free from the barriers of religion and tradition.

These women are depicted by Lydia Velasco, who has evolved in her own struggle to transform the female consciousness from oppression to liberation.

For the last five years, Velasco's women have undergone their own metamorphosis, from the physical allure of "Scent of a Woman" to the psychological ethos of "Mujer Indigena." Now they evolve as spiritual creatures in "Gayuma."

In the new show (ongoing at the Art Space in Glorietta Art Center until Sept. 4), Velasco has stripped her subject of inhibitions, from being the object of man's desire to becoming the subject of full-bodied fulfillment. It is clearly the more ambitious and satisfying show compared to her more modest show simultaneously being held at the Crucible at the Art Walk at SM Megamall.