MANILA, Philippines - Celebrated artist Sofronio Ylanan Mendoza, a.k.a. SYM, remembers how he left Cebu for Manila, with hardly any money at all, to chase a dream.

"My mentor, Martino Avellana, the first famous artist in Cebu, pinagsabihan niya ako na, 'You better go to the metropolitan. Your talent is not from here. You go there'."

"So with his advice, without any money, wala akong pera noon, kahiya, I struggled to come here. That is the reason why the title [of the book] is SYM: The Power of Struggle. When you struggle, you produce power," the artist said in an interview on Mornings@ANC last Friday, November 26.

The book SYM mentioned was launched successfully at the Ayala Museum last week. It was written by noted author, artist, and close friend Alfredo "Ding" Roces, and Sandie Gills.

"This book is about SYM and he has a very inspiring life story. And we thought it had to be told so we're sharing it with everyone," said Gills.

SYM said he has waited for a long time for a book like this to be written. "I was so satisfied and happy last night when I saw the book. Many people liked it," he said.

That his friend Roces wrote it makes it even more special to SYM. "Kaibigan ko ito sa Taza de Oro. He knows my background. Si Ding ang kailangang sumulat ng buhay ko," he said.

Roces remembers those days at Taza de Oro, the coffee shop in Manila that served as a hangout of artists. "I know him from the early days when we first started at La Solidaridad Galleries where I was also exhibiting and also at Taza de Oro. But of course after writing the book and interviewing him even more, I feel we are blood brothers now."

Simple person, simple artist

 For Roces, it could have been easy if they just delved on art in the book.

"Madali siyempre kung ang pinag-uusapan namin eh mga art dahil magkasama kaming matagal. It's easier to talk about technical points. But I don't like that.

"So we preferred to talk about him as a simple person which appeals to me. He's a simple artist with a simple style, and with no agonies, no complicated life stories. His life is also inspiring because he struggled from very lowly beginnings to being established. At the same time, pareho kami. He migrated to Vancouver, Canada and I moved to Sydney. So we have this feeling that we are both from this diaspora," Roces said.

The diaspora also contributed to making the book global. "I interviewed him in Manila, but from Sydney, we would communicate via the computer with Sandy, and the book passed back and forth. It was printed in Vancouver, and the book was launched here [in Manila]," said Roces.

Gills said SYM went through a lot. "Currently he has a lot of health issues he has to deal with. He was born in 1934, so at age 11, during the Japanese occupation, he had a lot of experiences through the war. And then he came from a very humble family. On his own he went to Manila to try his luck here. And then he had 7 children, but he had a lot of different types of struggles that he overcome. His life is very colorful like his paintings."

Drawing first before writing

Asked if he always wanted to be an artist, the 76-year-old SYM said, "I think so. From the very beginning, I knew how to draw before I knew how to write. So in that point, artist na ako. Mayroong special people dito sa mundo, fortunately, they are gifted. So maybe I am one of them. It's just a matter of using your gift and expanding it."

SYM recalled the early days in Cebu when there were no colleges offering fine arts.

 "In my case, where I came from, Cebu, wala pa noon. Not like now, it's very progressive, we have fine arts. Before, wala. [Meron] Architecture, [pero] ayaw ko ng architecture," he said.

That was when his mentor, Avellana, told him to go to Manila.

Since then, SYM has pursued his passion and his dream of painting.

He said he keeps on painting because "this is something always in my mind. If nothing is in your mind, you will not paint. Maybe also my wife, my environment, and also what is in my mind [keeps me painting]. I also want to go to a place where nobody is there yet. I want to explore. That keeps me alive," SYM said.

"Marami pa rin akong gustong gawin," he added.

Clearly, the artist is not through yet with his paintbrushes and canvas. The work goes on. Art goes on for SYM.

A retrospective exhibit of SYM's works is ongoing until December 5 at the Art Center, 4/L SM Megamall.