The image of crude crayon doodles on the wall is always associated with childhood. However, it is also framed as a testament to how hard parenting is. The child who creates pictures on the wall is also the child who destroys their parents’ hard work by leaving hard-to-remove marks everywhere. Thus, parents have learned to be wary of their children’s creativity, limiting it to paper and canvas. “Color inside the line,” they tell their children, and their children obey.

This, and the intricacies of the relationship between mother and child, are integral to Philippine society, so there is no shortage of local works that explore this bond. “Making a living room: Color inside the line.” is a work by artist Pam Yan-Santos that paints this relationship in a new light. It is a towering 96 in x 60 in mixed media work — the artist’s favored technique. The 2009 piece is currently on display in Antipolo’s Pintô Art Museum, and it is composed of acrylic collage, serigraphy, stencil, and graphite to portray Yan-Santos and her husband, Jose John Santos III, making art amidst their hectic domestic life. As such, it is a self-referential work, with Yan-Santos drawing from her experience as an artist and a mother to portray a snapshot of her daily life.

Images do the work no justice. To see the work displayed at Pintô would leave one speechless from its size, as it must be observed from afar to be appreciated yet seen up close to be understood. The use of mixed media, especially of the stencils and serigraphy, gives the work a unique depth that makes it look more alive. The effects on the walls and floor are reminiscent of comic book halftone and stippling effects, evoking a sense of nostalgia for the work. The scattered papers throughout the work make the room seem cluttered, yet lived-in. It is only upon closer inspection of the work that the detail of children’s doodles scattered throughout the otherwise realistic self-portrait can be seen. The colored-graphite scribbles get lost in the sheer size of the canvas, but are still undeniably there.

For a first-time viewer, it may come across as confusing or even annoying. It feels as though a child had taken a crayon and drawn directly on the canvas, ruining the otherwise professional air of the work. However, the artist’s statement attached to the work makes sense of this addition. Yan-Santos is a mother, so the doodles are her way of incorporating her son into her piece. It works best in conjunction with the title, as the phrase “Color inside the line” is often told to children from the moment they first pick up a crayon. Surely, Yan-Santos’ child was told no different.

The artist’s statement bolted near the work in Pintô ends by stating that this work is about the expression of boundaries, limits, and demarcation zones. However, even with this context, it is easy to believe that the work is not about setting limits, but more so going beyond them. Often, there are clear societal and artistic limits between what is ‘young’ and ‘old’. Consequently, the work calls out to its audience to think past those lines and create a new kind of work in the process. The harmony between the ‘professional’ art styles and the ‘immature’ doodles shows how children can partake in their parents’ work and can add to the work’s value. The drawings do not destroy the art but help create it, as there is no separation between the mature and the childish. They both have a place in the work’s liveliness, which comes across as a passing of a torch — sharing the parent’s mastery with the child to deepen their connection.

Yan-Santos’ style is not abstract. There is a clear image that allows for both her and her son’s creativity to flourish in differing yet complementary ways. Therefore, it is a statement that there is no need to exile a child from their parents’ work. Art has the capacity to be a common ground for many generations of a family, a chance to create a shared legacy showcased to the world if the child is welcomed to partake in it.

In a time where the relationship between family and art is being re-examined in the country, Yan-Santos’ work provides a refreshing perspective on the value of art shared between generations. Instead of being seen as a destructive force, the child-like tendency to draw is now reframed as the creative force it can be. Children, even with their rudimentary skills, can bring so much life to art especially when it is shared with the people who can nurture and cherish those skills.

More people should consider seeing the scale of this artwork up close in Pintô. Perhaps seeing what can be done inside the lines can challenge people to go beyond them.

Joie Ocampo is a third-year student studying BS Psychology at Ateneo de Manila University. Combining her college major with her love for the arts, she is interested in exploring the deeper psychological and societal meanings of the various works she encounters.