INTO SPACE
Pablo Gallery, Cubao X
I just recently had my first solo show called Into Space at the Pablo Gallery last week. I tried to do something different for the exhibit so I made a mix of silkscreened prints and lamp installations. The exhibit had a sort of narrative (which I'm always particular about since I love telling stories) about this Traveler (the space dude) traveling to places where the "end of the worlds" occur to document them.
Full exhibit notes:DOWNLOAD HERE
Pablo Gallery, Cubao X
I just recently had my first solo show called Into Space at the Pablo Gallery last week. I tried to do something different for the exhibit so I made a mix of silkscreened prints and lamp installations. The exhibit had a sort of narrative (which I'm always particular about since I love telling stories) about this Traveler (the space dude) traveling to places where the "end of the worlds" occur to document them.
Full exhibit notes:DOWNLOAD HERE
Black. The blackhole lamp.
This piece was made from scratch. Materials used were cintra board, microphone (ghost neck), wood, LED lamps and pingpong balls.
This piece was made from scratch. Materials used were cintra board, microphone (ghost neck), wood, LED lamps and pingpong balls.
Pingpong balls as diffusers.
A rare opportunity presents itself, and without a second thought, he buys that ticket for a trip of galaxy-shattering proportions. Curiosity piqued, excitement tempered, and expectations thrown out the window. To see the world break itself, shatter, release energy – outer space rides never sounded so thrilling for our intrepid space traveler.
The spacecraft glides smoothly and silently across the celestial infinity. He stares out the round window, reaching for his camera that can capture every nanosecond of an event, and his sketch pad. The captain buzzes through the central speakers announcing their last destination. The countdown begins and our traveler holds on tight. What to make of this exciting adventure, crazy as it may seem, is yet to be seen.
The spacecraft glides smoothly and silently across the celestial infinity. He stares out the round window, reaching for his camera that can capture every nanosecond of an event, and his sketch pad. The captain buzzes through the central speakers announcing their last destination. The countdown begins and our traveler holds on tight. What to make of this exciting adventure, crazy as it may seem, is yet to be seen.
White. The Nova lamp.
Made from scratch with thick copper wires and hand cut wooden pieces.
Made from scratch with thick copper wires and hand cut wooden pieces.
Some wooden pieces were hung as installation pieces using fishing lines.
My travel skecthes. The source of inspiration for the exhibit.
Suddenly dropped in the middle of nowhere, fixed notions lose their bearing. Approaching a cyclone of anarchy, the traveler manages to capture the universe breaking up into pieces. He has come this far, he must not miss a thing. He takes photos of fragments with time deferred. He sees a boulder momentarily suspended on top of a tapering canonical structure, horizontal figures piled up on one another, a square-shaped pit that sucked in objects, a mountain gutted, and finally a circular boulder scars the pristine field.
before the monument of disbelief
gutted mountain, massive regrets
scar trail across the field of infinity
to catch the final view before it falls away
The traveler witnesses what he needs to see. He can return to the safety of the ship or he can decide to venture off further into the wide pulsating universe. He awaits the next lines of the story.
That's me with the installation and the wall pieces.
But that is why science fiction in space travel is so fascinating. Storytellers create worlds that have never existed, madly building on a fragment of evidence. At the edge of real life, they precariously dive into the future with their boundless imagination.
Dan Matutina, an avid reader of science fiction books and adventure, finds himself bringing it front and center in his recent works as an illustrator and graphic designer. The fantasy of a childhood dream of becoming an astronaut and lunar exploration lives on in his illustrations.
And now with another venue to experiment, he explores the element of space, as one of the components of design encapsulated within a story that takes him to outer space. He opens the exhibit with his story of a hero off to see the conclusion or the beginning of worlds, to document, and be in awe of a rare opportunity presented to him. The illuminated sculptures act as bookends to the story. The breaking and the shattering into pieces, is a metaphor that shines a light to the unknown.
Crossing borders and thundering through a foreign countryside, Dan sees something surreal. In the middle of a field, rolled up haystacks bask under the stark afternoon sun. Not quick enough in grabbing his camera, he settles for furiously sketching that image from memory. That is how his imagination takes off. Real life adventures give birth to new artistic work.
Taking cues from his sketches, he proposes to create new images that are equivalent of a haiku. He attempts to strip landscapes down to its essential, most basic shapes. Putting aside his usual preference for heavily textured digital illustrations, he decides to experiment with serigraph printmaking. With black paint, he lays down the distinct figures against the textured expanse of white watercolor paper. At the tail end of the exhibit, pieces from broken planets are siphoned into the second sculpture that will take them to another unknown galaxy.
Because there’s a limit to what we know, we can’t always rely on the truth. Fiction does not hold us back. It helps us spring forward into new worlds. This is just one way it can end, or we can find another storyline to follow. We can go through that wormhole and see where that new mystery will take us.
Words by Dang Sering
Dan Matutina, an avid reader of science fiction books and adventure, finds himself bringing it front and center in his recent works as an illustrator and graphic designer. The fantasy of a childhood dream of becoming an astronaut and lunar exploration lives on in his illustrations.
And now with another venue to experiment, he explores the element of space, as one of the components of design encapsulated within a story that takes him to outer space. He opens the exhibit with his story of a hero off to see the conclusion or the beginning of worlds, to document, and be in awe of a rare opportunity presented to him. The illuminated sculptures act as bookends to the story. The breaking and the shattering into pieces, is a metaphor that shines a light to the unknown.
Crossing borders and thundering through a foreign countryside, Dan sees something surreal. In the middle of a field, rolled up haystacks bask under the stark afternoon sun. Not quick enough in grabbing his camera, he settles for furiously sketching that image from memory. That is how his imagination takes off. Real life adventures give birth to new artistic work.
Taking cues from his sketches, he proposes to create new images that are equivalent of a haiku. He attempts to strip landscapes down to its essential, most basic shapes. Putting aside his usual preference for heavily textured digital illustrations, he decides to experiment with serigraph printmaking. With black paint, he lays down the distinct figures against the textured expanse of white watercolor paper. At the tail end of the exhibit, pieces from broken planets are siphoned into the second sculpture that will take them to another unknown galaxy.
Because there’s a limit to what we know, we can’t always rely on the truth. Fiction does not hold us back. It helps us spring forward into new worlds. This is just one way it can end, or we can find another storyline to follow. We can go through that wormhole and see where that new mystery will take us.
Words by Dang Sering
