The cable wires seen throughout the metropolis executed as Haiku in visual terms inspire “Wired”.
As the poetry in English appear in three lines, I only used beige, black and white to define the image, relying mostly on composition to speak. This collection of works is where east meets west. It also pays tribute to the great abstract expressionist, Franz Kline. But while his works focused less or nothing at all on imagery, mine displays my source of inspiration.
The cable wires existing around us are necessary to our existence but considered very unsightly that advanced countries have hidden them underground. Could this image likewise be obsolete as the world goes wireless someday? My job as an artist is not only to record what is around me but also to find beauty in them. However spontaneous the works may appear, each piece is carefully studied, chosen and intentionally laid out. The process took trips to the streets, sketches and photographs to create the finish product. I truly enjoyed interpreting this everyday object into visual poetry.
I am inspired by the intensity of feelings whether it is love, passion, anxiety or hope. My paintings are personal but however personal the emotions are universal. Take a simple object like the rose. Each person will see it differently. To a romantic, it is love. To a perfumer, it is fragrance. To a botanist, it is a plant. So much about life and us get “Lost In Translation” . I chose a limited palette to define our colorful world. The paintings are not photographic, many details are lost but the heart is there. For this collection, I hope each viewer would be able to take the essence of the art and relate them in their own lives.
Written by Cid Reyes:
The title of the show alludes to the famous quotation of the American poet Robert Frost: “Poetry is what is lost in translation.” In these recent works, Jemina, an avowed Abstract Expressionist, reflects on the queen of all flowers, the rose. The subject references Shakespeare’s line, addressed by Juliet to her Romeo: “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose/ By any other name would smell as sweet.” The artist’s trademark feathery brushstrokes swirl gently, forming the shape, density and texture of roses. Male and female figures embody the artwork’s romantic dynamics.
“Figure Out,” at Arias Artspace at 210 Nicanor Garcia, 3rd Floor of LRI Building, Bel Air, Makati on February 20 through March 5.
Write up by Bobby Nuestro:
“Reminding us on what is used to be.”
What if the exhibition does not romanticized the everyday, the familiar, the global, the media nor identity or society neither the meaning of images as well as the metaphor? What if the exhibition does not deconstruct, ironized and subverted existing images from pop-culture nor from art history books? What if the exhibition does not explain the familiar terrain of creativity based on post-modernist premise of everything is acceptable as long as you discourse it right? Read the rest of this entry »