My artistic influence is primarily rooted from the icons and iconography of the Byzantine Period or Early Christian Art. Secondly, the dynamics of Philippine socio-political history, its crises, reversals of fortune and upheavals has always drawn me to create paintings that contain strong allusions and personal commentaries to real events and personages in contemporary Philippine society. In line with these, I have developed a unique approach to my subjects through the use of the following:
The principal theme in my artwork is the armed struggle between the Philippine Armed Forces and Muslim rebel groups located south of the Philippines. In all of my paintings, I created rectangular pictorials fields of varying sizes and of varying combinations. These fields, separated by red oxide pigment, becomes a visual device where various pictorial elements, such as human figures, architectural edifices and heraldic symbols are painted with oil paint, made to interact with each other and in the process generate glints of meaning and insight. In some of my works, I utilized the door as a visual devise to symbolize the possibility of achieving peace through peaceful resolution of the conflict.
I have always been fascinated by the flat-looking icons, semiabstract paintings and mosaics of holy personages that were considered holy in themselves. And in my attempt to represent ideas and concepts through a visual language of images, pictures and their interpretations, I also appropriated particular aspects of my art making such as style, compositional devices, medium and symbolism.
In matters concerning style and meaning, I believe that iconic art is the best way to expose my concern about equality and unity between Christians and Muslims. Taking the definition of “icon” as an expression of a visible essence of an immaterial existence and an awareness of metaphysical existence, iconic visual symbolisms of human suffering, pain, glory and freedom can be formulated to represent my narration of the ravages of war and all the evils that come with it. Examples of symbols I frequently use in my paintings are the Muslim mosque, the Christian churches, doors, lamb, faceless soldiers, Arabic notations, Roman numerals, etc.
With my use of the “frame” compositional device, the icon composition became more complex. The space became part of the composition because of the use of multiple perspective, which means that the pictorial elements within each gold leaf frame are represented in different viewpoints therefore defying the physical laws of vision. With the frames and the symbols painted in them, the artwork becomes a series of narrative panels.
I used gold leaf as the ground for my paintings. I adopted the traditional technique of estofado, which is precisely the application of oil-based paint layers over gold leaf. I also use the engraving technique for the inscription of symbols, figures and marks on the surface of the panel. I also explore the various patterns and layout of panels such as retablos, altars, dyptic and polyptic painting.