| Painting ‘Bighani’ |
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Source: ABS CBN News Website Bighani is a Filipino term that connotes a feeling of wonder, or of being attracted to something wonderful. Thus, the 21st one-man art show of Jonahmar Salvosa that goes with the same title aptly reflects the renewed romance of the artist with the female figure-his first love. "I feel fulfilled painting the human figure, and there are so many colors and lines that need to be expressed, filling me with wonder," he says. "My hand moves as if it knows where it is going." The artist's fulfillment is tied up with the exhilaration that accompanies the painting process. He adds. "My feeling today is very much unlike in the past. So many miracles happen when my mind, heart and my hands work as one." Salvosa's newfound freedom is attributed to his deepened spirituality, which he developed over more than two decades in Christian Zen meditation. Gone are his tentative brushstrokes and endless experiments with color. Indeed, in Bighani, the artist reveals maturity in technique-swirling lines, free-flowing colors, either in pastels or in subdued primary tones and a confident portrayal of reed-thin but strong women. Salvosa has evolved from his raw, ism-influenced art in the 1970s to his unique style, which is sensitive, more balanced and precise, confident and full of message. A nature-lover, Christian Zen practitioner, and seeker of truth, beauty and meaning, he has transcended all these today, and has freed himself from conventionalism and a client-driven purpose. Now in his early 50s, the artist was hailed as the Top Five Watercolorists of 2002 after winning the top prizes in Gallery Genesis' 19th Kulay sa Tubig Annual invitation Watercolor Competition-Exhibition. Salvosa was also honored in 1999 by his hometown in Calabanga in the Bicol region for his Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Fine Arts. His 1978 painting of Saint Lorenzo Ruiz won the Grand Prize in the First Filipino Saint Competition and now hangs as part of the Vatican Museum collection. Add to these his 24 other awards from local and international competitions, reflecting his skill, talent and brilliance. Having traveled extensively in study tours and exhibits in Europe, Egypt, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia and the United States, Salvosa continues to bring his philosophy to a varied audience through watercolor, print and mural. Bighani thus appears as a culmination to everything that he has experienced. Color remains a strong suit of Salvosa, but even the lines and the use of space have become his more prominent means of expression too. The thick acrylic and oil textures that used to dominate his earlier works are now less noticeable, replaced by an iridescence of subdued pastel colors. Washouts remain, but these are balanced with flowing lines and brush strokes that are confidently splashed on the canvas. These techniques, fortunately, do not scream at the viewer, but rather invite him to a more intimate look into the subject. It then develops a sense of wonder that somehow, in the mind's eye, the human figure could be idealized to a fault, but with the understanding that it is a product of free mind, heart and hand. Bighani runs until July 7 at the C3 Events Place, 18 Missouri St. North Greenhills, San Juan, Metro Manila. The art show culminates with a performance by various artists on its final day. For inquiries, call 726-2712, 723-2347 and 929-7811
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