Sa Hardin Nga Tinago
“Sa Hardin Nga Tinago” a group exhibition by Erika Mayo, JayR Delleva, Junjun Montelibano and Moreen Austria.
Text and image courtesy of Modeka Creative Space
Curated by JT Gonzales
February 17, 2023
We enter a dream. It’s made of the soft brushstrokes of enchantment. It evokes flowering plants and drooping vines. It speaks of herbs and thistles, of spices and petals. The spells of nature intermingle with the charms of the muses, and weave gently, deliberately, onto a canvas.
Bacolod has always been known as an otherworldly city. From sugar estates to baronial mansions, from the laps of luxury to the depths of poverty. Mysterious ruins commingle with spanking new concrete piles, and roads pass through kilometers of sugar stalks. Bacolod presents to the unwary visitor an intriguing allure, subtly waiting to be discovered.
Erika Mayo “Wounded Little Boys", 2023, 24 x 24 inches, Acrylic on Canvas; “The Fool", 2023, 24 x 24 inches, Acrylic on Canvas; “Discarded Vessel", 2023, 24 x 24 inches, Acrylic on Canvas; “Tower", 2023, 12 x 36 inches, Acrylic on Canvas; Erika Mayo (artist photo)
The allure of the place lends itself to its people. The fertile soil seems to infuse and suffuse its denizens, resulting in a wealth, a concentration of talent, that is astonishing.
JayR Delleva “Levitating”, 2023, 24 x 24 inches, Acrylic on Canvas; “The Other Village”, 2023, 24 x 24 inches, Acrylic on Canvas; “Wanderer”, 2023, 24 x 24 inches, Acrylic on Canvas
We turn therefore to four Bacolod artists, all known for casting spells on canvas. Moreen Austria and her spritely danseuses. Erika Mayo and her gamine heroines. Junjun Montelibano and his fearless maidens. Jay-R Delleva and his dewy-eyed missies - or heavy-lidded crones.
Junjun Montelibano “Beyond The Sea”, 2023, 1 x 3 feet, Acrylic on Canvas; “Sum and Substance”, 2023, 3 x 1 feet, Acrylic on Canvas; “The Trysting Place”, 2023, 2 x 3 feet, Acrylic on Canvas; “Equinox & Solstice”, 2023, 2 x 3 feet, Acrylic on Canvas; Junjun Montelibano (artist photo)
These Negrense residents, so blessed with innate magic, realize their visions of fecundity upon reflecting pools and midnight gardens. They wield their wands of brush, and call forth a wealth of foliage, of orchards, of haciendas - perhaps mixing a little spell here, or concealing a hex there. The night is fraught with mystery.
Moreen Austria “The Wait”, 2022, 3 x 3 feet, Acrylic on Canvas; “In Time”, 2022, 2 x 2 feet, Acrylic on Canvas; “Rose Garden”, 2022, 3 x 3 feet, Acrylic on Canvas; “In Full Bloom”, 2022, 3 x 2 feet, Acrylic on Canvas; Moreen Austria (artist photo)
Their magic garden awaits.
