THOMASIAN artists Ramon Orlina, Joe Datuin, Al Perez and Maria Magdamit participated in the 6th Sculpture Review, Gallery Nine’s annual sculptural feast, along with other 32 artists from all over the country, last September 10 to September 26 at the Megamall Art Center in Mandaluyong City.
This year, established sculptors played it up through drastic changes in their media and style without losing their distinct flair while up and coming artists were given the chance to concretize their mark in the art scene.
Orlina, a renowned sculptor and product of the old UST College of Architecture and Fine Arts, took a break from his trademark glass to surprise art aficionados with his bronze creation “Ecstasy II”—a piece laden with honey patina that fluidly captures a woman’s voluptuous figure in all her sun-kissed glory.
Meanwhile, the stainless steel rings display of multi-awarded and internationally-known sculptor Datuin came in a trio—“Dance of the Ring 19,” “Fusion #17” and “Fusion #15.”
The painter-sculptor won first place at the Beijing Olympics Sports and Art Contest in 2008 with his “Dance of Rings.” The winning artwork spawned his succeeding stainless steel sculpture collection in 2009 which remained within the same theme—continuity, interconnectedness and oneness.
Perez, also a Fine Arts graduate of UST, did not disappoint audiences with his relief sculptures. The painter-sculptor combined realism and three-dimensional art, instilling in his sculptures the same reverence that is seen in his church paintings.
His pieces, “San Agustin Church” and “San Sebastian Church,” feature metal churches jutting out of the frame, elaborating on the contrast of the sacred image of the structure and its background of bricks and concrete.
On the other hand, in one of the secluded corners of the venue, Magdamit’s surreal terracotta pieces were bunched together, as if guarding the boundary of another realm.
At first glance, Magdamit’s “Abutin ang Tuktok” would simply seem like a pale tree trunk intricately detailed with painted and varnished terracotta embellishments. A closer look would allow audiences to notice children attached to the trunk as if racing against each other to reach the top.
With the diverse styles and genres shown and the various emotions evoked by the pieces at the 6th Sculpture Review, the yearly event is bound to rake in more enthusiasts of the ageless art of molding different media into breathtaking figures in the following years.
