Blooms and Tides

Welcome the New Year with the brilliance of colors and the subtle energy of nature with new works by one of the country’s foremost abstract expressionists, Karina Baluyut. Juxtaposing the tabula rasa effect of the incoming tide (albeit with the multihued usage of fuschias, purples, and oranges) with the continuation of her acclaimed series of tropical flora, the architect-turned-painter indulges in a technique that emphasizes emotion over mimesis, surrounding the viewer with an aura of a calming vigor that no doubt echoes the best of our hopes at the start of the year.

Baluyut is an Architecture graduate of the University of the Philippines and has topped the architectural board exams in 2004. This background in non-linear abstractions that architecture represents enabled her examination in the junction of emotion and the merge of color, shapes, and forms. With the eye of a skilled draftswoman and the sensitivity of a poet, Baluyut constructs new visual realities within the realm of abstraction and reveals the depth of her emotional resonance in works that carry the weight of dissonance, memory, and the awareness of the passage of time.

Her new show, “Blooms and Tides” absolutely revels in this sensibility. Opening on January 25 at 6:30pm at Galleria Nicolas in Ayala Center in Makati, the show will stay there before moving to Galerie Joaquin Podium on February 1 to 7, 2012.

Galleria Nicolas is located at the 3/F Art Space of Glorietta 4, Ayala Center, Makati City. They may be reached through their landline at (632) 728-0124 and email at gallerianicolas@gmail.com. Galerie Joaquin Podium may be reached at (632) 634-7954 or email at podium@galeriejoaquin.com. Please visit www.gallerianicolas.com for more information.

The tide is an appropriate starting point. Representing the smoothening of the old, it is a telling sign of the new direction of Baluyut’s oeuvre, particularly focusing on the usage of water’s primary characteristic of flexibility. Water surrounds and penetrates, and the calming consistency of the tide belies the fact that the coast, in time, bends to its will. The presence of color invigorates this process, and the normally monochromatic tones employed by Baluyut gives way to the vibrancy of hues, recalling her recent experimentation with flora.

The juxtaposition of the tidal representations with blooming flowers is a natural one—the overarching idea is one of nature. And her new works in the series, originally inspired by a trip to Japan, displays the effervescence of tropical flora and all the tonal values. Blending well with the tide, Baluyut’s strong sense of the beauty of nature as a metaphor for one’s emotional experience is a powerful trope.

“Blooms and Tides” promises to be a show that shouldn’t be missed.