A group of artists spent at least four hours every day for almost a week hanging on harnesses to paint a mural depicting a fictional Filipino superhero dressed in a scrub suit.
AG Saño, an artist responsible for some of the most ubiquitous street murals in the Philippines, led his group, “Art Attack,” in painting “Darna” on the wall of a condominium building in Quezon City in the Philippine capital.
He said the concept came up after he was commissioned to draw an image of medical frontliners.
“I thought it would be better if I paint it on a wall,” he said. “So, I made a concept that shows a superhero because that’s how we see healthcare workers right now,” he told LiCAS.news.
Saño said healthcare workers are “superhuman beings” because of their “selflessness to serve in this time that everyone is threatened by the disease.”
He said the first design was an image of Superwoman, an American fictional character, wearing a scrub suit.
The owners of the condominium building, however, suggested a “local superhero.”
“So, immediately I thought of Darna,” said the artist.
Darna is a fictional Filipino comics superhero created by writer Mars Ravelo and artist Nestor Redondo. It first appeared in comic books on May 13, 1950.
The character has been adapted extensively and portrayed in films and television since its creation.
There were at least 14 Filipino actresses who portrayed Darna in movies and television series from 1951 to 2020.
Saño said movie actress Angel Locsin, “who was Darna during our generation,” became her model for the art work.
In a text message, the actress told LiCAS.news that she is grateful that artists are using their passion and talent to pay tribute and respect to healthcare workers.
Locsin said it is “an honor” to be included as one of the inspirations behind “a great work of art that promotes unity, compassion, and kindness in these trying times.”
She thanked Saño for painting an image that represents “real life heroes” and urged the public to continue its support for healthcare workers.
Locsin earlier made the headlines after she and her team raised about US$223,000 that was used to set up 225 isolation tents and 21 sanitation tents with misting machines in 135 hospitals during the pademic.
The Philippines’ Department of Health reported 205 new coronavirus cases on May 18, raising the country’s total to 12,718.
The Department of Health recorded seven new fatalities, for a total of 831 deaths in the Philippines.
Three of the new COVID-19 patients are healthcare workers. This brings the total number of infected personnel to 2,314. No new fatalities among medical frontliners were logged in a week, as the death toll remains at 35.
