Extinction

 A painter 's advocacy to protect endangered wildlife

By Earl D.C. Bracamonte

Punjabi artist Jaspreet Kaur's third solo exhibit on wildlife protection is currently on display for a limited fortnight run at the Gateway Gallery in Araneta City. Simply dubbed "Extinction," the one-woman show features life-like paintings of endangered species such as birds of prey and big felines like lions and tigers.

"I chose this theme for my exhibit because of forest degradation and because endangered species are at risk of going extinct in a matter of years. Bengali tigers, for example, go to extinction very fast. I know that I could not stop it, but I can paint them alive on my canvas; especially tigers and other big wild cats like the cheetah, jaguars, and leopard - with the skin of the latter a preferred source for coats and other fashion accessories. If we save them, we save ourselves, too! We save our future when we protect our wildlife."

Extinction is Kaur's third solo show after "Art Alive" and "Unleash." The first one, mounted in 2015, delved into the subject of live species and animation, while the next one delved solely on tiger species. For the current exhibit, Jas', as she is fondly called, paintings are a potent display of her strong conviction towards the protection of wildlife and the preservation of forest habitats.

 "Humans are killing amazing endangered species to get their fur while destroying their habitat by fires or illegal logging. You see, when people cut ten trees, they simply plant one in return. But the proper way is to plant ten more trees for every tree being cut down. We need to stop all these madness."

Jas started painting when she was 13,  mostly drawing lines, geometric figures, and faces. Thereafter, she started sketching and perfected the art without any formal training. By the age of 15, she got her first commissioned work to do a charcoal portrait of a neighbor. "I opt to use oil as medium because it lasts for a thousand years, and acrylic because it will survive for a century."

At 21, the Ramgarhia Girls College of Punjab University bestowed upon her the Best Artist Award from among her peers. She then continued with post-graduate studies and obtained her Master of Arts in Fine Arts degree also from the same institution.

After her first exhibit in 2015, she began teaching art lessons, especially on techniques, to both young people and the elderly. Jas has joined the annual SM Art in the Park series for a couple of years now. In her forthcoming exhibit, towards the end of the year, Jas will be showing both humans and animals, together, in every frame.

Jas is happily married to Phoola Singh. The couple is blessed with a brood of two: Fateh Singh (12) and Jaap Kaur (8). "I came to the Philippines in 2008 to tie the knot, stayed for a year, then returned to India. In 2012, she came back to Manila and has, since then, called the metro her home. 

"Today, I stand with the animals because I know, tomorrow, many will stand with me. I want to capture in my canvas the animals I used to see growing up but hardly see nowadays," intoned the 38-year-old painter, who hails from the same region as Miss Universe 2021 Haarnaz Sandhu.

"Extinction" is open for public viewing at the Small Room of Gateway Gallery during mall hours 'til September 24. The exhibit dates also cover the celebration of the world's National Day of Protest, Sept. 21.