The maverick art of Marivic

The exhibition banner painting tells it all. Inner Vision is both contemplative and festive as it marks Marivic Rufino’s debut as a mixed media artist, one sure proof that she constantly expands her repertoire as an artist, whether in terms of materials, media or subject.

The works that Marivic presents in this collection mirror her cardinal concern for the unsullied beauty of the world around her. One suspects that it is a willful choice on the part of Marivic. Her wonderful oneness with nature has been nurtured by her peripatetic travels around the globe. Visual facets of memorable sights, delectable aromas of lingering scents, and tactile manifestations of scintillating sounds have instilled in Marivic an admirable tenacity to focus her attention on the overarching nobility of life amidst the rampant savage attacks on it whether by nature, man or technology.

To enrich her art, she momentarily shelves them in her memory and only accesses them when required, suiting the demand of the present. In this very case, it is a need for catharsis via an art exhibition, or simply to submit to an infectious nostalgia. Thus, Marivic reconstructs through her paintbrushes the many vistas that continue to bless her life as a caring human being.

Such disposition eloquently explains why viewing Marivic’s works always constitutes a happy experience. Nothing ever jars the view.

The paintings in the collection, done largely in watercolor are musings, if not meanderings, with direct and indirect allusions to landscape. Some are limply delineated, others impressionistic. Still some are depictions of either isolated spots or magnified parts to heighten one’s appreciation or recollection. Some are simply abstracted, pruned to their barest of bands, colors, and textures. The choice depends on Marivic’s moods when she seizes the opportune time to capture the joy of a morsel, a movement, or a moment of a thoughtful memory or even an evanescent dream.

Whether she magnifies parts, pares non-essentials or repeats forms, she dazzles the viewer with visual musings that take the form of fluid patterns, rich texturings, gestural movements–these to emphasize essences and dramatize keen perception of details, all to say that, yes, one leaf cannot certainly make a tree, but that same leaf when allowed to bloom in full may make the difference.

To poke further the joie de vivre, Marivic transforms her art into a personalized environment. Witness her paintings assuming myriad yet tangible forms. One may just revel under the shield of her parasol, or confine oneself with her screen of afterglow. One may just lighten up with her lamp, luminescent as the wings of a papillon. Or one may simply ensconce oneself in the luxury of her chaise to welcome a new day at dawn.

Inner Vision, as the exhibit is called, is Marivic’s 12th in her dreamscapes series, an artistic concern she has been consistently working on for quite some time now. Every time she comes out to mount an exhibit, she manages to flesh out from the venture a fresh dimension. This she does by focusing on one facet in her visual explorations such that in the process, she is able to document or plot the development of a favorite idea–her long obsession with dreams. One thing ethereal about Marivic is through all these incursions, she does not lose heat, fire and passion. Every thing is as zealous, if not more, as the previous. Everything is as fascinating as it is engaging.

The decision to apply her art as design elements to very pragmatic concerns stems from Marivic’s intuitive desire to evolve her art.

The exhibit opens tomorrow at The Gallery on the third floor of the Manila Peninsula. It runs until Nov. 19.

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For comments, send e-mail to ruben_david. defeo@up.edu.ph.