Marrie Saplad, a self-instructed artist, made her mark in Philippine contemporary
art scene with her still-life themes featuring everyday objects in monochrome. Her first series of work in 2017 depicted transparent glass bottles on white surfaces and linen. She says, “ I really want to paint the glass because I find the varying reflections on the glass so inspiring. Because of the different reflections surrounding the glass, there will also be different forms that will be seen” (translated from Tagalog). Her subjects have been evolving gradually from the sculpture series, the glass series the hanky series and now , the tea bag series. The rudimentary style of Saplad’s renders and color compositions amalgamated with her emphasis on the subject’s details allow for a mystique that easily captivates any viewer’s attention. The artist’s minimalist,monochromatic style has been widely recognized by her collectors. She was born on Oct. 27, 1984 and is married to fellow visual artist Florante “Pongbayog” Paghari-on.