GUILING, ANNA AZRIFFAH JANARY ENGL 7 – ART APPRECIATION

ACA
MACAAYAN, NORHAIRAH July 31, 2020
PANDAPATAN, SITTIE HIDAYA

“Smile! All is well!” by Wencyl Urieta

“Smile! All is well!” by Wencyl Urieta tells a strong interrelated narrative about the
reality of poverty. Through introducing two smiling people sitting in front of scraps and
junks, Urieta first tells us that happiness can exist even in the absence of material wealth
and possessions. In addition, the comfortable sitting positions where the old woman
comfortably wraps the baby around her arms while the latter leans into her with ease
highlight the bond and closeness between them – this reiterates the idea that their
emotional connection and love are what connects them and makes them happy. Not to be
missed are the vibrant colors of pink and yellow that both of them are wearing, which
respectively signify the unconditional love that they have for each other and the lively
optimism in their surroundings. But if we look closely, we get to see another dark reality
that Urieta tries to present alongside the smiles and positivity of the two. It can be seen
from the bold strokes of oil paint that the old woman’s skin in her hands, arms, face, and
thinned neck is unusually very wrinkled, creased, and lined, which highlights a great
luminosity and color transparency of her incredibly visible bulging veins. This intricately
painted skin depicts the struggles, hardships, sufferings, and sacrifices that she went
through in her whole existence as a poor person to simply survive. Finally, the time when
this painting was made, which was in 2015, presents a society that was starting to realize
that romanticization of poverty is wrong. At that time, the majority of the Filipinos were
starting to realize that although the poverty-stricken and less privileged population can feel
happy on their own terms, this happiness shouldn’t take the limelight away from the fact
that what they truly need are inclusive opportunities, destruction of systematic barriers, and
equal access to necessary support and resources from the society.First, the small battered
toy found on the boy’s lap which shows patches of dark brown opens us up to the idea that
this toy is often used, and it could be the only one that he owns. It can also be seen that the
boy has no pants which further proves their incapacity to buy things as necessary as pants.
Second