In all their degraded state, Nona persistently and remarkably finds new methods to depict their transformations, in such painstaking manner like paper-tole, painting in photo-realism, and making negative prints from x-rays to address her interest in reconstructing new forms out of these otherwise ‘unadorned’ images. The result is a seeming paradox of an image of exactness out of their randomness. Through the meticulousness of paper-tole the disarray of furniture, the flotsam of goods from a kitchen that is flooded waist-high become elements inside a miniature fantasy-world. As they are reconstructed with depth and are framed inside a glass, the calamitous event somehow becomes akin to dollhouses, fairy tales and the ornamental nature of decoupage.

This randomness prevails in her x-rays of broken objects–diverse household objects like glass, decorative plates, tin cans, watches and figurines, which when shattered into pieces, their prints portray a new form of almost abstract and unrecognizable form. And this fusion of exactness and randomness becomes more evident in painting an image of crumpled paper repetitively and in multitude. Making one replica after another becomes an exercise of finding the truest form out of a form conceived through chance, and the randomness of an incalculable act like that of crumpling paper, easy to perform in a split second, makes the actual object almost more unreal and unworthy of our attention than the object inside the painting.

Although brokenness, deformity, and wreckage can be ascribed to be an object’s worst fate, these conditions through Nona’s vision are necessary destinations to transform them out of their predictability and to metamorphose into their own identity, eternally different from any other shard of glass, from any crack of wood, from any tear of paper or iron rust as they acquire their own blueprint through the randomness of form with each unique devastation, each unique disaster—where Nona assumes the role not as mender for each broken part, but as of myth-maker.

Documentation

Documentation

Documentation

“I consider this show as an act of purging, of cleansing old dreams to give way to the new, of breaking away from the restrictions of the past,” adds Sanchez. In “Hesusa,” a 4 x 5 ft painting in acrylic and graphite on canvas, the woman appears to be lamenting the water inside the fishbowl, which represents restrictions that she might have faced in the past. The old interiors surrounding her demonstrate the inevitability of change over time.

In a way, he goes beyond exploring the technicalities of external factors such as the choice in materials and painting styles, and probes deeper into his identity, thought processes, and personal experiences. He cites a poem by D.H. Lawrence, titled “Dreams Old and Nascent,” which similarly expresses a desire to be freed from the past. Sanchez is determined to do just that, to start anew, work on fresh goals, and form new memories.

Documentation

In a piece titled “Novissimus Adam,” Muñoz depicts the physical participation of God in the history of man through the history of salvation: The Word Incarnate Jesus was both “perfect God and perfect man,” describes Muñoz. The triptych has Christian images and symbols on two panels. One panel has a silhouette of the cross with the word, “Salus” (Salvation) painted on top, while a carved skull, made of plaster, rests on the base of the cross. The other panel has an image of Christ, painted in gouache and lacquer, as an icon holding an apple in his right hand. The middle panel contains the verse in plaster: “For since death came through a human being the resurrection from the dead came also through a human being.” As the first Adam brought death, the new Adam brought salvation to man, adds Muñoz.

Another piece, titled “Bonus Inter Gentes,” deals with the “black legend” on Pope Pius XII. When he died in 1958, he was revered as a man of peace, a wartime hero who saved many Jews from the madness of Hitler and the Nazis. Years later, though, he was depicted as indifferent to the plight of the Jews, and was even branded as Hitler’s pope, says Muñoz. “The truth about Pope Pius XII’s deeds is slowly being uncovered, together with conspiracies to defame him.” The triptych shows a wartime image of Hitler cut into two by the image of a dove with an olive branch, the seal of Pope Pius XII. Light streams out of the image of the dove, and the middle panel, wood-carved and painted with the image of Pope Pius XII, bears the verse: “For there is nothing hidden that will not become visible, and nothing secret that will not be known and come to light.” On the side of the first panel is an image of Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev, symbolizing Soviet conspiracy against the Pope.

Muñoz says he is continuing to find new ways to use different materials to express his ideas. “I have always been trying to experiment with traditional painting materials and other art materials. I also utilize carpentry techniques and, at times, use light lamps for back lighting and fabricated materials, such as glass, in my works. I always like to explore and incorporate other materials and techniques in my works.”

Documentation

Sausa says he is exploring every possible theme he can think of, playing around with the idea of going beyond the two-dimensionality aspect of painting. “The point of reference is what matters when I snatched up pictures from Google, which is customary among my peers nowadays, aside from glossy, chic, and underground art magazines [as sources]. I appropriate these images, insinuate meanings according to my fancy, make my own version via a hit-or-miss approach, and then let the viewers fill the gap. It is a bit collaborative in visual perception.”

Two works in oil on canvas, titled “The Sultan’s Throne” and “Flight of the Dragons,” have battery-operated clocks inserted in the middle. Shares Sausa, “These are suspension points over pictures that I copied from existing photographs. I considered these as deadpan subjects but, later, they may induce some storytelling…”

“Flight of the Dragons” was based on Sausa’s childhood recollection of what he has seen on television when he was younger. “As far as I can remember, it was an animated film with an unsettling and very sensitive storyline about millions of dragons doomed to extinction.”

Another piece, titled “To Those Who Love Me,” features a woman annoyed at the sight of the Pope falling asleep in public. The image of the Pope was taken from online paparazzi photographs shot during a mass, while Marilyn Monroe, doing an improvisation act during a studio photo session, was the inspiration for the image of the woman. Sausa also notes an affinity to Madonna and the controversies between her and the Vatican.

Sausa hopes to create more works that will reflect his goals in making them, just as he did in “Two Birds, One Stone,” a diptych that spurred new ideas for his next exhibit, and is also looking forward to discover his creative potential in installation art.

Documentation

Documentation

Documentation

An avowed abstractionist, Reyes, who is also one of the country’s respected art critics, explores the interaction between light and a highly activated surface. This is Reyes 16th solo exhibition.

Documentation