Photo by Ean L. Dacay

As far as art is concerned, literature is my first love. However, anything beyond the borders of essays, short stories and poems is a stranger to me. But while I may not know the technicalities and minutiae of the visual arts, I do know an artist when I see one.

That’s where Reese Lansangan comes in. Being a recent graduate with a bachelor’s degree in Information Design, you would think she had already ticked off a bulk of the items from her college bucket list, just like any other graduate would.

But the thing is, Reese is far from being just anybody else. And no, I’m not talking solely about the eye-catching green ends of her locks.

At the age of 20, she has managed to open a lifestyle store, be part of a musical duo honored in the Loyola Schools Awards for the Arts, and maintain a regular fashion blog—all the while honing her graphic design and photography skills.

When childhood inspires

There was no doubt in Reese’s mind when she chose to major in Information Design. “Anything else just wasn’t an option,” she shares. To Reese, it was a treat to study art rather than accounting and other business-related subjects, which she describes as “mentally draining & creatively unstimulating—well for me, anyway.” The way Reese saw it, no formulas, balance sheets or scientific laws could ever satisfy the need to release her creative juices.

Her artistic roots can be traced back to her childhood. Hailing from the artistic family, which owns Quintesence Gallerie, Reese cites donning improvised costumes from her mother’s wardrobe as her earliest foray into the arts.

Today, Reese runs a fashion blog and is known for her quirky sense of style. Here, it seems she draws inspiration from those afternoons of dressing up.  “I enjoy wearing clothes with random bursts of color, complicated silhouettes or stuff that reminds me of my childhood,” she says. “It’s a cross between an aspiring Marie Antoinette who sips tea with her stuffed animals, and an offbeat DIY guru with toys and fake pearls on her neck. It’s basically all sorts of weird adjectives strung together.”

Seeing that she grew up surrounded by art, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out what first molded Reese into the hands-on, DIY-loving artist that she is now. “Being able to make use of my hands to produce something tangible is like building miniature monuments of my thoughts and feelings,” she shares.

Waiting and working

Like many artists before her, Reese reached a point in her life when she decided to branch out. She teamed up with her friend Vica Hernandez to form the indie pop duo Reese & Vica, which she affectionately calls “a happy accident.”

From a spur-of-the-moment gig in 2009, things snowballed and eventually led to the duo performing for—get this—the President of the Philippines. As if that wasn’t high-profile enough, they’ve also been hailed as the 2010 College Band of the Year by NU107 and won the highly coveted prize for music in the 2011 Loyola Schools Awards for the Arts. It’s easy to see these accomplishments and peg it down to natural talent, but it wasn’t always smooth sailing for Reese.

Making music is very different from creating mixed media pieces—Reese had to learn to adjust. “[Reese] is very meticulous and a perfectionist when it comes to her mixed media art, but she’s a lot more relaxed when we write songs and perform,” recalls Vica. “It can be a bit frustrating, to be honest, but in the end she manages to deliver anyway.”

There’s no love lost between the two; in fact, the warmth between them is radiant as Vica describes Reese to be “a quirky and free-spirited person who isn’t afraid to show the world exactly who she is … someone who’s wacky, artistic and definitely unique.”

In the end, the duo’s hard work paid off. “Being recognized by the Loyola Schools community for what I love to do is one of the gratifying moments of my life,” says Reese.

And while Reese initially balked at the idea of putting up a business—“I wasn’t sure I could handle all the technical stuff,” she says—Reese took on the challenge with the help of her mom and cousins. Today, her lifestyle store Elan Bijoux & Accessories is known for its accessories and quirky items (paint-splattered tote bags and doll-themed nail clippers) that mix pop culture and nostalgic kitsch just like Reese does. “In my head, Elan was originally a place that I could fill up with all the things that I love,” she says. “Each item is a dear treasure.”

Taking on so many projects as a student was hard, but Reese is proof that the fear of failure or of getting in conflict with one’s studies shouldn’t stop you from pushing yourself to greater heights. “It’s just a matter of setting your priorities straight and staying focused,” she says.

Photo by Ean L. Dacay

Branching out

While most fresh graduates scramble to find job openings, Reese remains self-employed by choice. But before anyone makes any assumptions about the decision being one of post-college laziness, she reveals her reason for doing so. “I knew right from the start that I didn’t want to be confined in an office cubicle, working for other people’s vision and ideas.”

These days, Reese spends her time running Elan, maintaining her blog and continuing to hone her craft. Channeling all her energy into the arts remains as it has always been: her number one priority.

It may seem hard at first to peg down Reese as one thing—singer, graphic artist, entrepreneur, DIY queen—but closer inspection will reveal that all these have one thing in common: art. Rather than let herself be tied down to be just one thing, Reese continues to make familiar all that was once unfamiliar to her: conceptual art, paper engineering, stop-motion, zines, screen printing.

It seems that if there’s anything Reese is after, it’s to have the best of all worlds. “Right now, my ultimate focus is getting better at my art and just creating until my eyes gouge out,” she says. With that kind of determination, it seems entirely likely that Reese could one day have it all—that is, if she doesn’t already.