Hong Kong-based artist Allison Wong David mimics nature, perhaps a little too much
Hong Kong-based artist Allison Wong David mimics nature, perhaps a little too much
One might be baffled by Allison Wong David's art upon entering the Cultural Center of the Philippines Main Gallery.
Launched in April, Stone Garden, David's latest effort that took her two and a half years to finish, sprang out of her obsession with nature, simplicity, and embracing the layers of truths one can derive from simple forms.
It is in this ambivalence toward her subjects that David's art thrives. As she says in an interview with the local press, David is interested in the polarity of things as well as the “things in between.” Aside from the various connotations one can derive from the subject of her paintings, she also explores the use of different media ranging from copper, stone, stainless steel, and wood.
As Stone Garden's curator, Renato Habulan writes in his exhibition note: “her art tries to probe into realms that the soul cannot absolutely fathom, and congregates for us a portrayal of individualism and universality.”
“No need to paint the agony of conscious intellect,” reads a line from a poem she wrote to go with her “Seeking a Natural State (2007).” Indeed, David strays from man-made subjects and chooses something that doesn't have to be fashioned out of man's burden of needs.
Here, the painting depicts a huge slab of stone that also suggests the shape of the human brain. Teal, brick red, and gray, dominate the palette of the painting, forming curlicues that evoke the gentleness and adaptability of nature despite the rock's solidness. Dark blue and gray sprawl across the canvas, an admonition of an impending storm. Closer inspection of the painting could bring you to a place of meditation, within nature‘s reach but getting lost in the seamless sky in the background.
On a trip to Baguio, David stopped at a tunnel along Kennon Road to inspect the limestone rock formations. This inspired her to document her experience by encapsulating them in rock sculptures.
Her works are not necessarily made of earth, though. Playing with the industrial appeal of stainless steel, David fashioned a larger-than-life triptych sculpture titled “Reflections,” representative of the slab of rock in the painting “Seeking A Natural State.” The mirror-like quality of the stainless steel enhances the fluidity of the movement of reflections and the play of light.
David's new collection, as she says in her own terms, features 'portraits of nature,' which explains why the pieces were done with as little artificial methods as possible, refraining from making alterations to the natural state of the subject.
The exhibition's piece de resistance, “Stone Garden”, is a collection of stoneware and clay baked in an open pit-fire. The miniature stone mountains were created as much by the kiln's fire as by Wong . Even the dents, colors (moss green, green yellow, tan), and accidentals are the fire's own doing.
The problem, however, with Wong David's works is that her art indulges the exploration of nature and replicating it too much. David's works have been encumbered by the idea of portraiture that, although her work echoes nature, one could feel the restraint, the limitations of what human hands can do.
Print ed: 08/10
