Most netizens are awestruck by the viral photos of leaf carvings of faces of Filipino personalities and frontliners. But there’s more to this than meets the eye.
An artist from Laguna who’s behind these viral leaf arts lost her job in a factory when the COVID-19 pandemic struck.
Mary Mae Dacanay, 23, has since turned to using her talent to earn a living while still waiting to land another job. Her discovery of her talent in leaf carving, however, was accidental. She initially wanted to paint on canvass, but she had a hard time sourcing for materials.
One day, Dacanay had thought of experimenting on jack fruit tree leaves abundant in their area.
Through intricately cutting away tiny pieces of the leaves, she was able to recreate silhouettes of several international artists including Robert Downey Jr., Oprah Winfrey, Michael Jackson, and even President Rodrigo Duterte.
Her most recent pieces show the faces of social media influencers Emman Nimedez and Lloyd Cadena.
Thanks to her viral leaf art pieces on social media, Dacanay started receiving thousands of inquiries.
She told Reuters that she already sold hundreds of her art pieces, each for about Php400 enabling her to pay the bills.
