DR. MENELINE WONG began painting in 2017 thanks to the influence of a friend and quickly found renown.
In 2018, she won second place in the nonrepresentational category of the GSIS National Art Competition with her work titled Oro. It was that piece where she admitted that she made a mistake.
“So everytime I make an artwork, I always think that a mistake is not always wrong. A mistake can actually be good,” Ms. Wong told BusinessWorld.
Ms. Wong is one of the nine featured artists in the 12th installment of Conrad Manila’s series “Of Art and Wine.”
Abstract Views, a collection of 24 artworks, was launched at Conrad Manila’s Gallery C on Jan. 6.
Curated by Nestor Jardin and Lara Latosa, the exhibit features works by Dr. Wong, architect and sculptor Richard Buxani, mixed media artist Melbourne Aquino, painter Rick Lozada Hernandez, abstract artist Fitz Herrera, pointillist artist Binong Javier, environmental advocate and artist Lara Latosa, geometric abstractionist Aner Sebastian, and painter Michael Pastorizo.
As co-curator, Ms. Latosa paired the artworks according to the artists’ thematic similarities: word art as seen through Melbourne Aquino’s “lettering abstraction” with socio-political themes and Rick Lazada Hernandez’s work with inscriptions of “love”; texture through Fitz Herrera’s colorful patchwork on A Rush of Paint to the Head series and Binong Javier’s pointillist method of meticulously aligned drips of acrylic; fluidity through Dr. Wong’s mixture of vibrant colors and Lara Latosa’s wave movement; and patterns and reflections through Aner Sebastian’s geometric images and Michael Pastrizo’s Pink, Orange, and Green stalactite-like strokes.
“[The exhibit] shows your commonality as artists make you cohesive as a group, but [also] still shows each artist’s diversity,” Ms. Latosa told members of the press during the launch.
Ms. Latosa recalled that she started painting as a hobby and began with raindrops as the subject of her works. She eventually evolved to painting waves as her signature subject — an image which she associates to her life’s ups and downs.
“How you interpret your emotions into a canvas,” she noted, “is what makes an abstract artist unique from others.”
“When you get to know the artists, doon nagkakaroon ng value ’yung abstract (that’s how an abstract painting gains its value),” Ms. Latosa said.
The exhibit will be on view until March.
For inquiries on the paintings and exhibit, contact (8833-9999 or 7501-3270 to 71) or e-mail conradmanila@conradhotels.com or altromondoart@gmail.com. — Michelle Anne P. Soliman
