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Photography by Paolo Pineda
This year was a time to slow down for actress, singer, and painter Solenn Heussaff. Although that can perhaps be said particularly about her showbiz career, other aspects of her life and the different sides of her as an artist were quiet yet eventful一except their house must be filled with boisterous laughter from time to time when the humor of Solenn and her husband, Nico Bolzico, takes center stage in many #BulliedHusbandsClub social media posts.
Solenn, the mom of two adorable girls (Thylane and Maëlys), is a testament that motherhood is never the end of dreams. If anything, it gave her new inspiration and motivation to refocus from within and channel her time, energy, and passion to the people and things that matter most to her.
Her latest exhibition, VĪTA, encapsulates her current state of mind, as it's an introspective look into life and humans’ deep and complex relationship with nature. Done in collaboration with Olivia d’Aboville, Solenn's childhood best friend and art school classmate, VĪTA showcases the depth and breadth of Solenn's artistry as a painter alongside Olivia’s masterful textile works.
This is Solenn's fourth exhibit; her past exhibits were in 2016, 2018, and 2021. For her latest exhibit, she wanted to put a twist and thought it was high time she collaborated with Olivia. “I've always been her number one fan,” Solenn said. “I have her artworks at home. Because I also studied fashion design, I also know how intricate her work is.”
Photo from @solennartportfolio
Olivia d'Aboville and Solenn Heussaff | Photo from Provenance Art Gallery
VĪTA by Solenn Heussaff and Olivia d’Aboville, curated by Stephanie Frondoso, is open for viewing until the end of the month at the Provenance Art Gallery in Shangri-La The Fort, BGC. While nature (in the form of abstracted botanical landscapes and tropical plants), life, time, and humans’ relationship with nature are key references in the artists’ works, Solenn's paintings also explore social realist themes and Filipino influences一she and Olivia are both Filipino-French, after all.
In the gallery, their solo works appear side by side and alternately with their collaborative works. Explaining the latter, Stephanie shared, “Solenn's paintings were printed on the textiles, and then Olivia and her artisans pleated them.” Olivia also works with Filipino weavers, so this essentially makes VĪTA proudly made by Filipino women. With that, another Filipino artist Solenn shone a spotlight on in this exhibit is wood sculptor Charming Baldemor, who carved the intricate frame Solenn designed for “Polentia,” a highlight piece showing a portrait of a Filipino woman. On the concept behind the artwork and its frame, Stephanie explained, “In the portrait, the lady is undressing, removing a layer of traditional Filipino clothing. It is a gesture that signifies the modern Filipina’s ability to carve her own path, unafraid of change, defying what is expected of her. The carvings interpret Filipino ideals, including the ylang-ylang flower for grace, a farmer’s basket for heritage, and three stars and sun for pride.”
All these ideas, techniques, and textures come together to form a seamless narrative about nature as a form of therapy. “Mental health, finding solitude, and being able to just think out loud,” Solenn said, are integral concepts that helped shape VĪTA. “We wanted to ground and reroot ourselves.”
Opening up about how she heals through the help of nature, Solenn shared that she often steps outdoors to find solace when she's going through something一whether she's happy or wants to cry and scream. Her quiet time with nature allows her to reflect on and ultimately accept the cycle of life.
Solenn talked about how she drinks coffee every morning in their garden while observing their plants. “There was one plant I was observing because it has several leaves, but every month, it grows one leaf,” she began narrating. “So I was just looking at it and then I know that every month, when it grows and when I see another leaf start moving, in like three days, may mga bagong dadating du’n. So I already know, and it's kind of like showing the cycle of life of human beings… how things grow and how you leave a way for other things to come out also. Some wilt away and some new ones sprout, and it's kind of like opportunities in life and the people that come and go in your life.”
Her attention to detail, mindfulness, and being intentional about all aspects of her life are on a different level now, especially with her turning 40 next year influencing a shift in her perspective and priorities. “I've kind of slowed down work-wise and, of course, I'm appreciating my girls at home,” Solenn said when asked about how her collection for VĪTA speaks to her personal life. “And also, I guess, reaching the point of turning 40, like, I know what I want; I know what I don't like. I know the people I want to be around with and the people I don't. And of course, you have all these doubts about the future, so I feel unashamed to share all of that. I feel like people will be able to resonate with that. That's the reason I didn't want to do portraits kasi all my past exhibits are all portraits. It's because I want people to just really have their own interpretation. Maybe you look at this and you feel something different… maybe you're sad when you look at it or you're not, so it's a mix.”
The exhibit, which is about a year in the making, is the perfect year-ender for Solenn, one that has given her a positive boost and a lot of inspiration to keep going and keep creating artwork that will pave the way for her to have conversations with people. She told Metro.Style, “This makes me more motivated to do more artwork as well in the future. It kind of gave me a pat on my shoulder that I'm gonna go in the right direction. I really want to pursue this, being an artist, ’cause I never had the time to really put a hundred percent of myself into this. Now, I have a studio in my house that I built for myself. I'm not painting outside of my mom's balcony like before. More people are supporting me. My husband's all for it.”
With nothing to stop her, from slowing down, Solenn is picking up the pace and gaining momentum in preparation for going ahead full throttle on more creative pursuits. After all, life is a cycle that requires balance, and she has found that at this point in her life.
Scroll through the gallery below for photos from VĪTA at Provenance Art Gallery:
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Lead photo by @paolopineda via @solenn