Tuesday, May 24, 2005

DANNY SILLADA: Images Upon the Rocks

images upon the rocks
By Carmencita H. Acosta
What’s On & Expat, May 22-28, 2005

Poetry of Nails & Blood: A Tribute to Pope John Paul II, 2005
Nails, Acrylic & Rubber Paint on Board & Metamorphic Rock, 50 X 40"

Poetry of Nails and Blood: A Tribute to Pope John Paul II, 50 X 40

Danny Sillada uses a unique medium on which to paint his abstract images. He shuns the conventional canvas and chooses, instead, metamorphic rocks as the recipients of the colors and images that he conjures up in his moments of artistic expression.

Imagination is the main ingredient of his paintings executed through the years and which had its beginnings many summers ago when as a growing lad in Mindanao he would watch his father create beautiful pieces of furniture in the carpentry shop.

Inkblot A by Danny Sillada, 2005
Acrylic on Canvas, 40 X 30”
12. Inkblot B
Copyright © 2005.

Sillada would pick up the pieces of paper that his father used to blot out stains from his tools. The curious boy would hold the discarded papers against the sunlight and see, not unsightly marks but symbols of reality: sometimes a human figure or a landscape; at other times, perhaps a tree or a flower.

Ecumenical Movement: A Tribute to Pope Benedict XVI, 2005
Acrylic & Rubber Paint on Metamorphic Rock, 50 X 40"
Ecumenical Movement: A Tribute To Pope Benedict XVI, 50 X 40
Copyright © 2005.

This experience has influenced his present collection of Rorschach-like inkblot images. The artist bids us to do as he had done years ago: to see symbols of real life in images, this time upon the rocks.

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the sensational ouevre
of the former man of god

By Reesy Garcia Ferrer

A One-Man Show at Ricco-Renzo Galleries
Manila, Philippines

Mystery of the Cross by Danny Sillada, 2005
Nails, Acrylic & Rubber Paint on Metamorphic Rock/Board, 40 X 30”
9. Mytery of the Cross
Copyright © 2005.

Poet, painter, philosopher, art critic and a former seminary formator Danny C. Sillada mounts his latest works, “Everything and Nothingness”.

Utilizing an expensive metamorphic rock or slate as a medium, his art has evolved into a more abstract and contemplative form. Albeit, his paintings are still in the surreal mode, he employed Rorschach-like inkblot images in relation to Sigmund Freud’s Psychoanalysis on id, ego and superego.

The inkblot series has a seeming playful and child-like quality. The viewer cannot help but take a second look at the perturbing imagery, as it offers a poignant and peculiar encounter of one’s psyche and subconscious. As a result, the psychology charged descriptions leave an indelible mark in one’s mind, and stir uneasiness and emancipation all at once.

Inkblot 04 by Danny Sillada, 2005
Acrylic & Rubber Paint on Handmade Paper/Board, 20 X 20”
Ink Blot Series 04, Acrylic on Paper, 2005
Copyright © 2005.

Sillada’s two paintings, for instance, titled “Metamorphosis” and “Adam & Eve” seem to appear as photo negatives or slides. His whimsical portrayal of imagery and symbolism is further enhanced by free-flowing strokes and unrestrained lines cascading on the sheen of metamorphic rock and handmade paper.

The resultant images of his works, according to the UP professor and art critic Reuben Ramas Cañete, are culled from manifold, eclectic sources, as diverse as his biographical experiences, exploring the depth of his tortured subconscious by juxtaposing the relationship between symbolism and experience.

Adam & Eve I Danny Sillada, 2005
Acrylic & Rubber Paint on Handmade Paper/Board, 20 X 17”
Adam and Eve, Ink Blot Series, Acrylic on Paper, 2005
Copyright © 2005.

His 6th one-man show entitled “Everything and Nothingness” is slated to open with cocktails on May 26, 2005 at Ricco-Renzo Galleries, at LRI Business Plaza, 210 N. Garcia St. (formerly Reposo), Bel Air II, Makati city, Philippines. For inquiry, please call at Tel. Nos. (632) 898-2542 to 43, Telefax (632) 898-2545 and Email at ricco_renzo@yahoo.com.