CEBU, Philippines – Since 1974, Cebuano artist Victor Abellana has been recreating life through his mosaics using the wings of butterflies whose lives run shorter than a dozen sunsets. 

For him, the beauty of such delicate creatures should not go to waste. Instead, they should be appreciated beyond their expiration. 

From the bustling scenery of the Carbon market to the captivating gaze of the wildlife, Victor finds his muse in the mundane. He gets a certain thrill from it, an exhilaration and a challenge he so willingly puts himself through.

And of course, it would be a challenge. When butterfly wings are your medium, you must be prepared to sort through a million shades and hues, and to hold your breath for each piece you paste on your canvas. 

At 80 years old, Victor does not mind. He is patient and enjoys the weeks he puts into his work. After all, what is art if not a means for his own happiness?

The master’s son

Victor’s tremendous passion for the arts can be traced all the way back to the years he spent with his father, Jovito Abellana, one of Old Cebu’s most distinguished luminaries.

“The man who gave me inspiration was my father. He was a painter, a sculptor, and an apprentice of Dante Guidetti,” Victor said in Cebuano.

Guidetti is no ordinary maestro. He was a famous Italian master sculptor who brought with him the disciplines and techniques of classical architecture to many places in the Philippines, especially Cebu where he built a studio.

As Jovito followed in Guidetti’s teachings, Victor soon found himself aspiring to be like his father, trying his hand at drawing and painting.

“When I finished college, I still had the interest for painting but my work [as a chemical engineer] took over,” the artist told Rappler.

Eventually, Victor became a father himself and learned that parenthood was a beautiful art form as well.

Fluttering

In his younger days, the artist would collect butterflies with his friends in the wilderness of Cebu as a personal hobby. He shared that his interest in turning butterfly wings into art peaked when he visited the home of the late Cebuano lepidopterist Julian Navarro Jumalon.

“There are certain butterflies that pass in a certain path…at times, it is difficult to catch one like the [Hamanumida] Daedalus but we would use it as bait and end up catching another,” Victor said.

Victor’s pastime eventually became a regular weekend activity he would do with his family. His son, Vee Charaxis, named after a genus of butterflies, recalled the memories of going with his father to Cebu’s Buhisan Dam to catch butterflies.

“The clan would go up there and while the rest would eat, the [kids] would go catch the butterflies,” the son told Rappler.

Victor’s father was also a collector of butterflies. Vee shared that he and his cousins grew up seeing their grandfather’s collection displayed on a board inside their home.

Over time, Victor’s children grew older and his enthusiasm for butterfly catching waned. But that was until his sister-in-law brought him to the butterfly sanctuary of Bay town in Laguna in 2005.

“There were so many kinds of butterflies but these would only last for a week or two…So many would just die and they would sweep the wings and throw them away,” the artist said.

Victor proposed to the sanctuary to use the wings and repurpose them for art, which was subsequently granted to him by the management. As of this writing, he still carries a large supply. 

To be happy

Victor never had any formal training when it came to the arts. He shared that most of his free time is spent learning techniques from scratch and growing ever so eager to work on a new piece every time he finishes one.

His son even expressed concern for him, given the sheer amount of work it takes to finish a single mosaic. 

“Imagine the hours to make the piece. You have to be in close proximity to cut the butterfly wings…to stay in your seat for a day cutting those wings without coughing,” Vee said.

When asked why he still uses the wings as his medium, Victor replied, “I have to do something. I cannot rest…I just want to finish my work and be happy when I see my work.”

One of his best butterfly mosaics, entitled Eagles, took two months to finish. 

The artist told Rappler that he has a bigger dream: to pursue impressionist art. He is inspired by the works of French painter Oscar-Claude Monet and Belarusian artist Leonid Afremov.

“My butterflies will run out soon but I will still have impressionist work to do,” Victor said.

At present, Victor’s pieces are available for viewing at the Misfits Coffee along Tojong Street in Cebu City and on his official website managed by his children. 

– Rappler.com