5 LGBTQs Who Overcame Discrimination to Make a Mark in Philippine Art, Beauty and Fashion

In recent years, we’ve been seeing more and more members of the LGBTQ community succeed in their chosen fields. While knowing they’re successful might be enough for some of us, learning about the entire journey helps us respect and admire them more deeply. Below, the stories of some of them who play a part in the beauty and fashion industries. Read on to find out what they struggled with and how they surpassed it.

Rebie Ramoso, 41, Visual Artist and Digital Painter

​My journey to art was a long one. I graduated with a degree in psychology. While I knew at the age of 5 that I wanted to be an artist, it took me 10 years of pursuing a different course and career to finally decide that I was meant to do what I have always dreamed of doing. I studied painting at the College of Fine Arts of the University of the Philippines. That was where I met my mentor, Prof. Yasmin Almonte, whose encouragement and faith in my abilities were instrumental in my decision to be an artist.
There will often be resistance and skepticism when you go against the grain. The challenge that I had to face as a visual artist using new media was to make people in the Philippine art scene recognize that what I had to offer was a legitimate art form. Part of that was having to face rejections because the fine-art scene then did not have space for it.
So I had to look elsewhere—and that was when I realized that while it took time for the country's art scene to embrace what digital artists do, other parts of the world were setting the stage and platform for it. I was lucky that what I had to offer was what they were, in fact, making a new category for.
Now that the Philippine art scene has become more open to new media, I am hopeful that we can share our worldview and our stories with more people in the country. Through our art, we can make sense of what's going on within and around us. I would like to think that my art speaks to my audience and allows them to reflect on their lives and the decisions that they have made. I feel that I have done my work as an artist when someone tells me that my work hits his/her core. I recall someone thanking me and saying that my work has allowed her to process her experience of loss. The fact that my work is able to facilitate someone’s process of healing—that in itself is very rewarding.
As my artworks dwell on the inner realm of human experience, I hope that my digital paintings are able to speak to a wider audience, regardless of their background. I want to make art as long as I’m alive. Now, my digital paintings have been featured in international exhibitions of contemporary art in Bruges, Rome, Florence, and New York. I’m blessed to represent the Filipino art community in large contemporary art fairs such as Art Expo New York 2018. I am also preparing for a solo exhibition in Rome, Italy, in 2019.

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