Bibi Belgica and Lhean Storm
Kanto Artist Run Space
2F Makati Square, Chino Roces Avenue, 1230 Makati City, Philippines
Opening
September 22, 2018 7PM #DitoSaKanto
Exhibition runs from September 22 to October 13, 2018
“Incubation” — to develop life within by any process
The exciting ideas come to mind in just a fraction of its total burst. That fraction captured nestles & swims around sometimes within the confines of a cradle, breathing through the tension of trying to fully define the form it can be. It is neither complete, nor incomplete. It is openly sprouting, and offers the kind of joy that there is more to come, this is not yet the finality of the process.
Lhean Storm’s works for this show is a new series showing a combination of old styles and her new ones. The artist has done a series of recent experimentations. Some signature patterns are still there, although this time they are not much emphasized but instead they sprout as random accents. She wanted to explore the expressionism approach in her painting and enjoy the overall process without the tendency of her mind to create more intricate details like she used to do. You’ll still see a hint of psychedelic themes but generally more abstract play with the medium. She wants to veer away a little bit from her usual works and explore bolder painting approaches, somehow psychologically breaking old habits and growing new ones.
Although her signature representational human on side profile reoccurs, the figure which originated from her Shadow Series is now filled with intuitive play of paint strokes. This time though, the paint textures appear as opposed to her usual tensed delineation and pattern construction. The choice to let things flow invites open contemplation without being lost through the grounding of the recurring side-profile figure. It somehow evokes some sort of mystery on what this open contemplation can lead on. You know it’s there, but the answer is not needed at the moment. What is needed is just that moment.
Biomorphic forms create an illusion of abstract without fully dismissing some representational forms. For Bibi Belgica, who practiced mainly representational interpretation, venturing towards abstract is a dangerous affair. It’s dangerous, because it creates ambiguity in category. However, the process can’t be contained, it must be rendered. In her large pieces, she attempts to abstract the iconic representations of the Marian accounts from the Bible without intending to blaspheme. The idea is to capture the essence of the narrative and convey the dynamics behind it which are actually universal. In “The Annunciation”, the apparition of the angel Gabriel and Mary’s acceptance of the “divine will” also represent the momentous spark of inspiration to create and nurture an “outcome”. In “The Woman and the Dragon”, it connotes the tension and peak of the creative process while there’s an awaiting hunger for the “outcome.” Here, the affair with the abstract–while being attached with the representational, sprouted bridging appendages to different categories. It formed a reframed concept of the specifically Christian religious art, at the same time pointing that referencing narratives from religious texts does not necessarily categorize an art form under religious art. The openness of its category invites growth as it continuously incubates also through the transgressive use of medium.
Both Lhean Storm and Bibi Belgica captured key fragments of varying categories and incubated them in their unique approaches on medium, process and dynamics. As Lhean Storm celebrates the flow of intuition, Belgica swings on the tensed ropes of categories.
Invite:
https://www.facebook.com/events/1035189079975230/
About the Artists
BIBI BELGICA
Bibi Belgica was born in Iloilo City in the early 80’s when the art scene in Western Visayas was booming while her artist father Benjie Belgica was one of the pioneers of the mainstream art scene. As a toddler, she showed potential and her parents encouraged her to work on her skills. Growing up, she got distracted with other creative interests and got discouraged in the visual arts and strayed away from it as a career path. Visual arts seemed an inborn obligation with impractical casualties. However, she found herself willing to come back to it again and found her group of artist friends who are willing to emerge in this exciting art scene which offers variable opportunities. She began being active again in 2012 and is based in Metro Manila. She explored various media such as painting bleach on dark fabric, live drawing using barbecue stick burned on-the-spot as charcoal, and her acrylic skins technique which she is currently invested.
LHEAN STORM
The most powerful form of art is music for, Lhean, a visual artist whose previous works were heavily influenced by Psytrance—an electronic dance music genre with unique, hypnotic and transcendent energy. What seems to be her musical melodies are conceived into intuitive paintings and illustrations. Her focus is on playing with various processes while keeping some of her distinct aesthetic at the same time. She most recently exhibited her new paintings at the National Art Gallery in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia together with a group of Malaysian artists, Museo Orlina for Tagaytay Art Beat, and won Manila’s VS Mode All-Women Art Battle during Women’s Month at Kanto Artist Space.
Kanto Founder/Patron: Mr. Toshihiko Uriu
Arts Administrator: Fabrianne Morales
Multimedia Designers: Bylson Sy and Ros De Guzman
Exhibit notes written by Bibi Belgica
@bibi.belgica | @Lheanstorm – IG
#regrann#emergingartists #trulyasia #contemporaryart #psytrancefamily #music #finearts #manila #philippines @lhean_studio
