18/03/2023
Yvette Co is a painter, sculptor, and environmental artist based in Los Baños, Laguna. She uses wood, cement, and papier-mâché for her sculptures and 3D mixed media paintings. Her works are inspired by the environment, drawing from her experiences living in Los Baños and creating commissioned works for organizations like the ASEAN Center for Biodiversity, the United Nations, and various colleges under the University of the Philippines Los Baños, among others.
Some of Yvette’s works that represent her environmental advocacies include “Mother Nature and the Mangrove Forest,” a papier-mâché diorama of mangroves, created in 2012 for the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity in India, in collaboration with craftsmen from Paete, Laguna; her first solo show in Los Baños, “Carvings and Paintings to Save the Forest,” a showcase of branch carvings from storm-fallen narra trees mounted in front of various impressionist paintings; “Pamana sa Tanay, a 20-foot sculpture of San Ildefonso and Our Lady of Guadalupe made from a standing, preserved dead tree in Tanay, Rizal; the creation of the ark of the UP Laguna Quezon Land Grant Ark for the Sierra Madre Nature and Conservation Reserve in Siniloan, Laguna, consisting of six wooden sculptures and tree-textured cement; and JCI Manila’s “Sea of Life,” 7 pH-balanced underwater structures made of cement and measuring 6 to 7 feet, deployed by professional divers in the waters of San Fernando, La Union, 18 meters below sea level.
Concurrently, Yvette holds art workshops for children and adults online and in Los Baños. She also plans and supervises the creation of artworks for parks, exhibits, and homes. She is a featured artist in "Dakilang Lagunense" , a coffee table book published by DFA's Foreign Service Institute in 2023.