Minda Marie de la Serna- Cabrera, MD
Happily married to a gentleman farmer from Barotac Viejo, Iloilo, Dr. Cabrera began her artistic journey at a late age having devoted her time and energies primarily to the practice of her profession alongside with raising her then growing family of two boys and two girls. She graduated from the University of Santo Tomas faculty of Medicine and Surgery and is a practicing physiatrist or rehabilitation medicine specialist at St. Paul’s Hospital in Iloilo City, Philippines.
Her love of nature and the environment found its expression in her early works consisting mostly of flowers in pencil and watercolor, and a few done in oil. Back in college and medical school, drawing in Biology and Anatomy possibly provided the subliminal experience and exposure that led to this new avocation. Realizing the vast potential of portrait drawings in communicating ideas and its ability to evoke compassion and discourse, in 2014, she began the daunting journey of learning the craft by sheer determination and persistence, dedicating a significant amount of her time to this creative endeavor.
Using charcoal pencil and paper the human face became the primary subject of her recent work; the result of her fascination with its paradoxical complexity and simplicity. Charcoal drawing provided the perfect foundation for her growing passion in art as a medium to express and idea in an honest and straightforward manner. The use of lines, light and shadow served to enhance her understanding of form, spaces, tone and texture. To her, creating portraits using charcoal dust on an empty sheet became a compelling medium to tell stories, and to describe human experience and emotion; joy, loneliness, innocence, tenderness, fear, uncertainty, survival, acceptance, love, hope and more, in a silent but captivating voice drawn with clarity and conviction.
