Some things were conspiring that Tuesday night the 27th of November in this part of the world. It was raining--not a real downpour and not a drizzle either, just a steady kind of November rain.

It was nature imitating art.

The exhibit was Ode to Water by Karina "Kaka" Baluyot, hosted by Jack Teotico in his Galerie Raphael on the second floor of the Serendra in Global City.

Family, friends and patrons were there to support the artist in her 3d one woman show.

What struck me about her works on display were the maturity of her brush strokes--controlled, yet playful; authoritative, yet really unassuming. These attributes actually made her paintings--characterized by thick dubs of oil paint sculpted to bear form and texture--heavy on the mental side, yet fresh and accessible.

Also, there is a raw kind of sensuality that lingers tucked somewhere beneath the totality of her individual paintings, like the scent of Channel No. 5 long after Carmen had left the dim-lit room.

Definitely, passion murmurs through this collection of still life and landscapes, like a fitting harmony to the sensuality of her composition. I could only imagine fulfilled desires and times when longing seems so unbearable through the night.

I could imagine the impact of the late American Georgia O'keefe's representational abstractions, except that flowing through Baluyot's veins are the subtlety of an Asian steeped in the trappings of Western thought, philosophy and socio-economic lifestyle.

A doctor who holds clinic at St. Lukes Medical Center in Quezon City blurted out as he emerged from the gallery to the buffet table: "I know that Karina paints, but I didnt' know that she's this good."

Another guest told me, almost as if whispering to my ear: Alam mo ang maganda dito, supportado siya ni Jack. I mean, let's face it, ilan ang katulad niya?

We may be witnessing here Baluyot's first three steps toward edification though the march is obviously long.

It's a different feeling to write about someone you know to a certain extent than writing about someone you haven't really shared space and time with other than the yield of research.This is how I'm writing about Karina Baluyot, one of the most dynamic and vibrant young artists in the Philippines today. We are like--come to think of it now--soulmates. Once in a while we hang out together, and--wala lang--talk about life in general and as it pertains to her art and my photography. I am comfortable sharing a meal or coffee with her in a in a coffee shop or restaurant in a mall or somewhere else.

I'm writing about Kaka--her nickname--because tonight is her third one woman show at Galarie Raphael on the 2d floor of Serendra in Global City. Called Ode to Water, the exhibit consists of 33 paintings on different media. She describes them as "...paintings on canvas, board and handmade paper. Depicting shells, the rain, waves, the sea and other elements inspired by water."

In the tradition of theater and the performing arts, you don't wish cast and crew good luck but the ominous break a leg.

Pray tell: What do you say to a painter on the opening night of her exhibit?

Saturday 22 Sept 2007 I got this SMS from Ross Capili as I was wrapping up a product shoot:

Pare, im inviting tonyt at 630pm, we hve an opening exhibit at oneworkshop gallery, u

Going there as a detour to my appointment with the owners of a small cosmetics factory was one of the best things that ever happened to me last weekend.

I met the artist Jill Arwen Posadas; her signature works adorned the walls of OWG Creative Center. Her exhibit--ROMP--basically reflects the lightness of her personality. She is so approachable, so unassuming, so... Wala s'yang excess baggage whatsoever.

Her works exude the playfulness of a child. Her mastery of color and technique dances with a full imagination, unlike the works of an elder veteran who painted toys referenced on a photograph whose exhibit I saw last year at SM Mega Mall.

Posadas will likely go down in the history of Philippine art as the artist whose works matured so much in a charming manner despite her biological, and therefore unconscious, drive to remain a child in the seat of her artistic talent and creativity.

This article came out in the Archikonst magazine July 2005 edition in conjunction with my exhibit at the then Epson Katha Digital Imaging Gallery in Glorietta. Goodbye, Summer is my second solo exhibit here in the Philippines since I started coming back in October 2004. The first was in May of the same year, entitled Unnatural Habitat at the The Enterprise Center Art Hall –VS


Goodbye, Summer:
A visionary look at the lotus flower
and the beaches of Boracay
through digital photography

To many the term digital photography conjures images that are overly software-edited and have that experimental look that is not easily recognizable. Not true at all when it comes to the photographs of lotus flowers and Boracay by Vic Sollorano, on exhibit through to June 15 at the Katha Epson Digital Imaging Gallery in Glorietta 3, Makati Commercial Center.*
For Sollorano, the equation is simple: digital photography = photography using a digital camera or a camera with a digital back + edited on a computer using an image editing software.

The 34 pieces included in Goodbye, Summer reflect that simple way of defining the world, in the sense that they are accessible in terms of composition and technique.
Sollorano's images of lotus flowers rest on basic table top photography, using natural light bounced and shaped around the subject with the use of mostly home-made reflectors, as in Styrofoam panels and aluminum foil. He also used a gold and white reflector from high-end Italian maker of photographic equipment Manfroto.

Also shot in natural light, the images from Boracay reflect location photography that is uncomplicated. These are ordinary seascapes, beach life if you will, rendered in a masterful way.

What makes Sollorano's images unique is that they are not easily recognizable in terms of place and time, like some novel idea that may disappear forever if one fails to grasp them. But often than not, they produce that aha! experience in the beholder, an insight assuring us that, as in the case of Goodbye, Summer, these are just lotus flowers and scenes from a tropical Philippine beach.

Sollorano follows two basic principles of composition, the rule of thirds and intuition. Mostly he depends upon his instinct, because there is that element of communication with the inner self, whose judgment defies logic and aesthetic standards. Also, the results are often a surprise. The photographer sees something beautiful, frames it through the lens regardless of placement or positioning of main subject and focal point. He presses the shutter release. And voila! The image is captured forever.

Regardless of the approach to composition, Sollorano says, the image that works best has mass, or an intrinsic quality that attracts us to it. For him, though, pictures that resonate are the ultimate test of whether it works or not as a piece of art.
After our initial attraction we are hooked, Sollorano says. "We are hooked and engaged in a dialog with the picture whose resonance seems to respond to the way we resonate. In the end we are a slave to our level of perception.”


*The exhibit actually ran through July, as the next group that was supposed to show their stuff at the gallery was delayed.—VS

The Visions in the Light Statement

Visions in the Light is my response to nature, in this case the lotus flower. I am awed and amazed by this encounter. My curiosity is stirred. If a lotus could speak, it would have said to me, Come; explore my endless possibilities, for I can be a thousand other forms without losing the essence of my nature.

The camera serves as an extension to my eye, the lotus an object of desire. My two-pronged ambition is simple: bring forth its tonal range within the bounds of black and white; and journey through its undulating texture.

I want to create something new, give life to an image that has always been part and parcel of a cultural scene for more than 2000 years, but never been explored before in the way that I do. In more ways than one, I have reached that vision through Visions in the Light. The essence of my being dictates that I share them with you. –Victor Sollorano