Madonna Bacorro

Better known in the art world as Maddie Bacs, Dr. Madonna Bacorro's journey as an artist started before the pandemic, in 2015, at a charity NGO hospital where she encountered her first-ever professional painter consultant, a brain tumor patient. Together with the patient's wife, they demonstrated basic skills and introduced her to the use of various painting materials, specifically oil medium. She later became adventurous and explorative, discovering different mediums including oil, acrylics, soft pastels, cray pas, gouache, charcoal, crayons, pencil, and other mixed media, expressing her passion for producing abstraction.

She draws fuel from the emotional demands of dealing with palliative patients nearing the end of life, depicting the misfortunes of various life stages of illness these patients are in and transforming negative emotions into works of painting obras, to which she often develops attachments for a certain period of time.

Admittedly, her passion for painting became a form of recreation as she also became somewhat competitive, often attempting to join multiple art contests. These contests include her ArtShow family's themed online and physical exhibits, the GSIS National Exhibit in 2021, where she participated as an exhibitor in both non-representational and representational categories, and has been featured on the covers of international medical journals such as Cleveland's IAPRD journal in June 2023 and November 2023, India's Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care in 2022, WHOCC-IPM Global magazine's Curios in 2023, and many more Filipino art galleries' exhibits both face-to-face and online, such as KURIT Gallery, Ani Onse, Dry Brush Gallery, Grey Space, Filipino Art, Art Filipinas, among others.

To date, she has participated in seven physical exhibits and has had solo exhibitions, including two during World Family Doctors' Day in 2021 and 2022, two ART Filipinas group exhibits, and another solo exhibit as part of JRRMMC's LGBTQ celebration. She has also participated in minor exhibits simultaneously in the same years of 2021 and 2022, presented in Mary Johnston Hospital as part of their World Hospice and Palliative Care Day celebration, featuring her paintings in the GSIS National Art Competition in 2021 in both non-representational and representational categories.

Her painting artworks were also featured in the Viva Production of the telenovela remake, "The Encounter," in 2021. Her first one-man exhibit, "Beau Visage," was held with ArtShow Philippines in 2022.

Through various exposures to professional and esteemed artists like Sir Frederick Epistola and Sir Romeo Ballares, she has informally been guided in the evolution of her painting skills. She has also learned techniques from art colleagues, received support from art enthusiasts who bought her paintings, and treats her paintings with seriousness. As a scholar herself, she sponsors and donates through her artworks as honorariums to speakers in conferences she advocates for, as a way of showing gratitude to those who have helped her and her family in various needs, such as doctors, friends, and assistants.

Her journey for artistic enrichment is presently a continuous improvement in both skills and way of life.