To artist Christina Quisumbing Ramilo, home is where her artistic juices are in full swing. Little by little, she is turning her grandmother’s family home into her own work of art, bringing in new materials while keeping some of the old. This remodeling project has spurred her to come up with a series of works that is once again in focus in Palimpsest, her latest one-woman exhibit at West Gallery in SM Megamall. Opening on May 1 and running through May 13, the exhibit features installation pieces out of old wood and other scrap materials that take on new character and meaning. It reveals the past as much as they reflect Quisumbing Ramilo’s current creative preferences.
The term “palimpsest,” in architecture, refers to an image or remnant of a structure in the past. It is most common in areas that have undergone remodeling or renovation. Quisumbing Ramilo may have given her grandmother’s house an updated look, bringing in vintage doors and windows from the 1950s and 1960s, but she is certainly keen on retaining objects of deep personal significance. It might just be a slab of wood here and there, but the history it carries is too important to throw away. She has re-worked pieces of wood that were part of the old house into horizontal and vertical wood installations.
Palimpsest is all about transforming the leftover materials that I have decided to keep into works of art, notes Quisumbing Ramilo, fascinated by old architectural pieces. “They remind me of a period in the past,” shares Quisumbing Ramilo, recalling both her childhood and materials that are no longer made or available today, except in junk and antique shops. “I try not to alter them too much,” adds Quisumbing Ramilo, knowing that the pieces are symbolic of her desire to hold on to certain memories.
One of the installation pieces features a series of wooden blocks, as if bringing back the lost form of building blocks as playthings to the current generation of children generally exposed to computer games. The piece is meant to be interactive. People can move the blocks, which come in different shapes and sizes, around, and make it their own. Quisumbing Ramilo says it reminds her of her own generation, when she actually played with toys she can touch, instead of merely pressing keys on a computer.
She also includes other wooden pieces in the mix, this time smaller versions of the poles that she has begun putting together out of old structures. Re-working the old house has been fun and creatively rewarding for Quisumbing Ramilo, who has decided to return to the Philippines after being away for more than 20 years. The hands-on approach has taught her many things, from being resourceful in sourcing her materials to being good at recycling. She believes that her newfound home is still very much a work in progress, as is her art.
