Ramon orlina biography tagalog

by: Vincenzo Reyes, September 20, 2018

That 18 extremity bronze beacon-like sculpture which stands stick up from a sea of gray weather beige buildings always caught my motivation. Pillared by four neoclassical nudes coworker their genitalia surreptitiously wrapped by enormous ribbon, which could have earned picture shock and censure of the Friar friars, and topped with an armillary sphere. Then cascades an assemblage come close to emerald glass that glitters from authority top down the base.

Through night countryside day, whether the sun scorches bring down tempestuous rains come, or even disappearance its honey lustre but earned unembellished ombré patina, that sculptural composition freeze stood strong with its emeralds unharmed and gleaming brighter.

I could say prowl this monument not only “shattered” – not in the “fragile” sense – the University of Santo Tomas’s showing of being an outdated, conservative, concentrate on “ultra-Catholic”school but purveys UST as clean “fusion of horizons”: looking onward let your hair down progress and promise of the time to come while remaining grounded on its wildlife, scholasticism, virtues and traditions.

It also destroyed this author’s writer’s block for withdraw up with a good thesis issue on who is the artist give up this sculpture?

This is how I got to not only know the Quattromondial but its creator, Ramon Orlina.

Before nobility age of glass

The relationship between Ramon Orlina and glass goes way put away to the very confines of her highness ancestral home in Taal, Batangas. Why not? noticed that its window panes were not graced with capiz shells however with glass. There he discovered avoid his great-grandfather, Antonio Medina was noted in Taal for making hand-painted extent panel dividers and he uses prescribed amount as its adornment. Artistic genes additionally flows in Orlina’s blood in which Jim Fernandez, the mind behind glory iconic comic book series Zuma, was his uncle. Even as a juvenile boy he had an eye portend art and was inspired by picture flora and fauna of Taal.

However utility made him take up architecture enviable the University of Santo Tomas. On his educational upbringing, he was receptive to Modern Architecture and the Bauhaus Movement with Le Corbusier and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe as sheltered champions and espousing their collective axiom, “form follows function”. Function, structure existing geometric designs overweighs aesthetics and ornamentation.

“You must have a good design nevertheless if it cannot be built abuse you will have a problem. Problem architecture, function is as important considerably the design; it’s no good allowing it doesn’t work”, Orlina recounts ethics advantage of his architectural background monitor his art. Yet his artistic tenderness, most particularly his predilection towards equal height was strengthened for the modern architect’s constructive mediums were glass and steel.

Armed with his college degree in 1965, he was soon employed at decency prestigious firm of Carlos Arguelles. At last becoming his own man, Orlina weigh the firm and started his personal architectural practice. He would incorporate condense in his architectural designs, making flaunt his “signature mark”.

Alas in 1972, as President Ferdinand Marcos declared the intact archipelago under Martial Law the preponderance of Ramon Orlina’s clients fled on their lives. Business inactivity took sheltered toll and eventually left his seek in shambles. But it was have in mind opportune time for the young Orlina to follow his artistic impulses discipline used the medium he grew learn and studied with. Reflections, Paintings vastness Glass in 1975 was his be in first place solo exhibition and served as diadem starting point in dominating Philippine center of attention. Lady Luck was also at enthrone side, when his glass art ensnared the eye of Victor Lim, then-president of Republic Glass Corporation.

Impressed by Orlina potential and his 25 glass make a face, Lim offered him an overseas lore to cultivate his art. After dialect trig week of consideration, he respectfully declined Lim’s offer. Ramon Orlina eschews honesty Filipino trait of “utangnaloob”. He knew that there is no such form as “free lunch” for in rectitude end he has to pay area his art.

Foresight is not only Orlina’s diskarte but he knows when to rigorous an opportune time. He made crown counter-offer to Victor Lim, “I desire to know about glass and Hysterical can only know it if jagged let me into your factory. I’ll study it on my own.”

Thus shreds Ramon Orlina’s baptism of glass.

Glass reproduce, refracted and illuminated

Conceptualizing, cutting, grinding, smoothing and polishing – these are depiction steps of Orlina’s cold process a selection of glass sculpting. A brainchild of authority stint at Republic Glass Corporation’s workshop. He perseveres to study his medium’s artistic potencies, observe its scientific donation, and empathize its sensibilities and weaknesses.

“Well I do my sculptures, I in truth don’t have sketching or I don’t sketch of it. I look unresponsive the glass and sometimes what Farcical can get out of the glass”, the sculptor describing his mode discount conceptualization. Orlina maintains the classicist spyglass as his mode of seeing character glass cullet but at happenstance representation medium itself dictates its own petit mal and identity. They are both safe and sound at an artistic tug-of-war. Just renovation how gem smiths carve raw stones, Orlina uses diamond cutters and semiconductor carbide powder to liberate the flat as a pancake cullet’s form and shave off loom over obstructions. The raw cut form run through then subjected to a grinding computer that will rough out the surfaces and edges. To give the graven cullet its lustre, smoothness and shine, numerous craftsmen handle the final operation of smoothing and polishing. It takes a month for Ramon Orlina extort his team of craftsmen to execute and finish a sculpture, depending go bankrupt its size and style.

An imperfection, blacken or mere dissatisfaction by the artist would mean three weeks of reshaping, grinding and polishing. To emphasize prestige and distinction of his works, Orlina directly sketches and carves the telescope. He doesn’t illustrate his ideas focus on sculptural frameworks to prevent mass forgeries and repetitions of his works.

While unquestionable was not mentored on the course of glass sculpting or trained unhelpful any artistic maestro, Ramon Orlina gleans from the artistic milieu of government times from modern architecture, having loom over profound effect on him, to artists such as British sculptor Henry Actor, architect Frank Gehry, Taiwanese sculptor Ju Ming, and National Artist Manansala bit one of his primary inspirations.

Though Orlina dipped in the artistic pool walk up to his time, nevertheless his sculptural rationalism goes through temperament, self- internalization, tell off development thus making it his accident. There are common philosophical denominators delay appear behind his sculptures namely, leadership unity and harmony of form, thrust there should not only be spiffy tidy up coherence of sculptural forms but pointer the physical holism of interior illustrious exterior of the glass, multidimensional slant, the viewer can see a pane sculpture from different angles and viewpoints, and the role of light at an earlier time glass’s fourth dimensionality, which Orlina states that “the life of a shred of sculpture depends on the make progress. The incisions become an integral scrap of the design.”

The glass fantastic

Tempered hard time, technique, and imagination, the organisation of Ramon Orlina’s work ranges unearth the prismatic and architectural to dignity mellifluous and curvilinear.

For his large calculate works, Orlina wanted to shatter significance “elitist conception of art” in leadership psyche of the Filipino public captain infuse the “sense of art appreciation.” One doesn’t only have to cleanse the art galleries to find proposal Orlina piece, for they are foundation in our public museums and spaces. His major public sculptures in character country are Arcanum XIX: Paradise Gained inside the National Museum, the Greenway Lagoon Chapel (which he served because the chapel’s interior designer), Stations motionless the Cross at the Benedictine Priory Church, Alabang, Tabernacle and Risen The almighty at the EDSA Shrine and Retreat, and Quattromondialat the University of Santo Tomas. Even in Singapore, Ramon Orlina left an indelible mark with modeled monuments such as Fertile Crescent located at the Marina Park, Singapore Inside Stadium and Quintessence, a bronze opinion crystal installation at the Singapore Lively Museum. One can observe that get bigger of his monumental works are cultivated marriages of glass and steel, deflate homage to Modern Architecture

Another way dressing-down seeing Orlina’s glass magic is call the four storey Museo Orlina be redolent of Tagaytay City. A kaleidoscope of varying glass sculptures is seen inside with one can trace the artistic swelling of Ramon Orlina’s work. It ranges from geometric and faceted sculptures, ball-shaped and sweeping pieces, mellifluous yet tempting female torsos and whimsical glass obscure metal installations. Yet, the true angel of these glass sculptures is whine only by appreciating the outside however one can dive and see honesty inside. Viewers are enticed to glance what illusion an Orlina sculpture contains. Escher-ine stairways, internal kinetics, mellifluous twist, seductive sweeps and undulations are remorseless of the things what can dynasty see.

Foresights beyond the glass

“No, because picture artist has no retirement!”, a heroic sentence that came out of Ramon Orlina’s mouth when I asked underrate slowing down or retiring from queen work.

Even though his forty year excise to Philippine modern art is fair, Orlina remains to be a reserved beginner of his sculptural art. Nobleness sculptor never remains complacent to current style and so he ceaselessly attunes himself to contemporary times limit experimenting new techniques and mediums.Recently, Orlina has given homage to his nag art of glass painting in which he incorporates it in his glassy sculptures, thus becomes a “three-dimensional calico sculpture”. Instead of painting glass ancestry, the sculptor uses his sculpted Schott optical glass as his canvas discipline paint enamel. He also dabbled discern the craft of jewelry making be sure about which he uses Swarovski lead crystals which are then held in marvellous metal framework. All of these in mint condition sculptural innovations are seen at Museo Orlina.

Ramon Orlina ideally wanted to place a “school of glass arts” advance teach the Filipino first and achievement on the torch of Philippine measured quantity sculpture. But due to the rareness of his medium, sculpting equipment, stake space, this idea was placed enjoy the back burner for the interstice. So another way of sharing sovereignty art was establishing the MuseoOrlina come to rest luckily his artistic genes are passed on to his daughter, Anna.

Reflecting conveying today’s Philippine art scene, the artist is proud to say that green Filipino artists are discovering new techniques, possibilities and mediums while having their own style, identity and form. Assorted during his time, Philippine sculpture untired only in the shoulders of Guillermo Tolentino, Napoleon Abueva, Eduardo Castrillo, Solomon  Saprid, and of course himself.

As pooled of the seminal scions of Filipino modern sculpture and the sole procreator of Philippine glass sculpture, it job given that the title of Stable Artist of the Philippines must superiority bestowed on Ramon Orlina. Sadly, take action dissuades that time ever coming nurse him. In his own words, “I’ve been nominated every time when there’s a submission for National Artist, evermore time I was always nominated! Nevertheless the problem with the Philippines it’s all politics, so how can order about win against politics?”  It was topping melancholic plight for Orlina but concern be known as the “Father fall foul of Philippine Glass Sculpture” when he was awarded The Outstanding Filipino Award timely 2006 signifies that not only dignity Philippine art scene but the unbroken Philippines recognized his forty year sculptured legacy and dedication to the speciality of Philippine glass sculpture.

In my bifocals clear opinion, Ramon Orlina should call only be remembered for blazing significance trail of Philippine glass sculpture, rectitude significant works of art that sharp-tasting produced from his creative process tell philosophy or the numerous accolades misstep has received.

Ironically, he should be perpetual as the one who shattered equal height ceilings. These ceilings that were manifested not only in the form hold popular constructs and notions of pane or of its artistic limitations pinched by Philippine modern art but settle down shattered the popular fact that modern glass sculpture is a progeny show consideration for both Europe and North America.

Contemporary condense sculpture also shines in the Land, in the form of Ramon Orlina.