TWO THOMASIAN alumni mounted solo exhibits tackling the simplicity of life and memories of childhood at the Galerie Joaquin Podium in Ortigas Center, Mandaluyong City on Jan. 22.
Dubbed “the Father of Philippine Miniature Paintings,” Nelson Castillo gave his pieces a paradoxical coalescence by merging landscapes and his signature miniatures in his exhibit “Infinite Skies.”
Castillo, a Fine Arts graduate, recalled his humble beginnings in art as well as his inspirations and experiences in life.
“I got into art when I was four years old. It was my uncle who had the factory of making statues, figurines. Those pieces that were broken — I used [those] for drawing on the street, on the pavement, all over the place,” he told the Varsitarian.
“Changing Earth,” a 36×48-inch acrylic piece, manifests a fusion of dark-orange and deep-blue skies, highlighting its vast space through a meticulously drawn miniature windmill in the background.
Accentuating the contrast of movement and stillness, “Euphoric Voyage” is a mixed acrylic and oil work that accentuates movement through an awesome sandstorm amid a stock-still landscape.
Richard Buxani, an alumnus of the old College of Architecture and Fine Arts, reminisced his childhood fondness of the samurai in his sculpture exhibit titled “Bushido: Code of Honor.”
“As a kid I loved samurai warriors, so I thought that if I was going to choose a subject, it would be something I would enjoy, or I still enjoy,” he said in Filipino.
Imbibing the “Bushido,” or the code of conduct of Japan’s samurai, at an early age, the architect-turned-artist said he hoped to convey the values found in it to millennials.
“In this day and age, life is too fast-paced. We forget a lot of our values, so the values found in “Bushido” — loyalty, honor, courage, bravery, frugality — I try to explore these, hoping they’ll rub off on the new generation,” Buxani said.
Buxani’s favorite, “The Pinnacle of Discipline,” is a brass sculpture on a stainless-steel base, showing the graceful movements of a samurai shooting an arrow.
Another work, “Swordsmanship,” depicts a warrior mid-combat. This 21×28.5×12-inch sculpture is among 15 works created for the exhibit in a span of two months.
The exhibits will run until Jan. 31.
