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were indeed very honored and privileged to have with us one
brave Filipino soul who have taken the risk to explore an
unknown world - Mr. Ramon Orlina.
His works indicate the sheer genius of breaking boundaries
by transforming sculptures into something literally translucent,
ethereal, and quietly sophisticated.
His work is no rash display of over-emotional exhibitionism,
but a careful calculation of the potentials of the material,
balanced with the serenity of an excellent eye.
From his artworks Orlina has gone on to redefine the state
of Philippine Sculpture as one that is both environmentally
sustainable and uniquely sensual.
Orlina first became active as an artist in 1975 when he painted
on sheet glass and had a successful exhibition of The Gallery,
Hyatt Regency, in Roxas Boulevard.
In 1976 through the sponsorship of Republic Glass Corporation,
Orlina experimented and developed the technique of working
on glass cullets carving and polishing them into prismatic
shapes.
In the same year he completed his first commissioned work,
"ARCANUM XIX, Paradise Gained." It surprised and
inspired a visiting Australian art critic and artist in the
mid-70's, Gerry King, that more than twenty years later he
would write about it in an Australian art publication the
following remarks:
"Unlike the present, contemporary glass in architecture
was a rarity in any country during that era."
By his first solo exhibit in sculpture at the City Gallery
of Manila in 1980, Orlina began pushing the boundaries using
glass cullet sculpture, still carving and polishing them into
prismatic shapes but also penetrating and gouging out thicker
portions to bring them to light.
His collaboration in the design of the Greenbelt Park Chapel
in 1983 cemented his reputation as a noted sculptor and designer.
By the late-1980's, his design philosophy reflected a more
intimate and domestically contended state, with his imagery
of nude female body parts mixing with his sensual curved abstracts.
The "Ning Ning" and "Naesa" series bolstered
his reputation as a consistently excellent proponent of sculpture
in all its forms.
By the 1990s, the complete Orlina repertoire was unfolding.The
year 1999 marked a high point in Orlina's career with his
winning the "Mr. F. Prize" of the Toyamura International
Sculpture Bienale, '99 in Hokaido, Japan.
This biennial attracted 956 entries from 65 participating
countries competing in all mediums. The winning piece of Orlina
was a dazzling white optical glass sculpture called "Silvery
Moon."
In the turn of the Millennium, Ramon Orlina pondered on the
multi-faceted nature of his work, and decided to augment it
with the introduction of tubular stainless steel, a phase
first suggested in his award-winning piece "Basketball
MI Mundo" which won the first prize in the sculpture
category of the II International Biennale of Basketball in
the Fine Arts held in Madrid in January, 2000.
In his 25 years as a sculptor, Ramon Orlina has consistently
shown excellence, originality and daring as a sculptor.
His 20th solo exhibition, "Glass in Silver" will
present this compilation of technical and aesthetic bravura
to those aspiring to go to the deepest of conceptual spaces.
Surrounded by the circum-globulations of steel, and the prismatic
flashes of glass, the viewer would indeed enter a universe
that Orlina has recreated, a glimpse into his complex mind
and sincere heart.
For
in the world sculpture, few can boast of such achievements
in the industry, and in sensitively relating to the rest of
humanity as Ramon Orlina has.
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