Jemina not only approaches art with a meditative eye, but also with a rational one. She has not simply realized abstract forms for art’s sake. How could one who used to be skeptical of abstract painting in her student days be taking up the same thing with a burning passion?
"I thought it was a hoax. In college, after having noticed one of my classmates improve her work in abstraction in a span of a semester, I realized there must be something more to it. Picking up my watercolors and pastels, I experimented with abstraction. Successfully completing my first piece, my university professor, Mari Hulick, encouraged and guided me to continue. Several years later, I find myself pursuing this art," she says.
She is challenged to seek a new dimension in an art form that has been in the mainstream for quite so long. She came upon Francis Schaeffer’s book How Should We Then Live? and learned of a Christian outlook on the beginnings of abstract art.
To summarize: "Nineteenth century philosophers had started looking at life, the universe and its causes and effects in a closed system, detached from an infinite absolute or God. This brought about materialistic viewpoints and other humanistic philosophies, including the idea that energy and matter are eternal and that the human mind or soul could be explained in terms of materialism. It gave humanity a sense of autonomy and pride, pushing the idea of a Creator aside. These thoughts have greatly influenced modern artists onwards but resulted in pantheistic depictions of life as birthing from self, but is bound to breakup from the beginning. For they have started looking at reality in a reduced context – and reason led to pessimism. It is only by non-reason that they have found optimism. In the absence of absolutes or standards, philosophy had moved from unity to fragmentation and was also carried in painting. It was not just a new technique in painting that had evolved but an expression of a world view."
Is abstract art still as provocative as it was when it was emerging in the 20th century? Has it outlived its basic philosophy? Jemina might have just come up with a new orientation in this form as she struggles to give credit where credit is due about her gift of creation.
"My philosophy is contrary to what the abstractionists of the past say. Abstract art can never be meaningless," she says.
Responding to the perils of human hubris in which life has become fragmented, debased and absurd since it has severed its dependence on a Creator, she now aims to exercise art as an act of regaining the dignity of life by reconnecting it to an absolute Source.
It is surrendering her imperfection, so that it may be governed by the laws of the universe, which, at the hands of God, has a way of dealing with the unique characteristics of every human being, according to his/her feelings and thoughts, weight and animation. A painter can never do exactly the same piece over again. Much less can one ever do exactly another painter’s piece. It is human imperfection but it is what makes every painting unique. Imagine: If a painter were perfect like God, an unlimited number of identical paintings would be done. Therefore, there is beauty in the human imperfection.
For Jemina, the joy of artistic creation is also humility and marveling at God’s creations. For a time, the object of her meditation had been heavenward, skipping the harsh realities of the world. Faced with the mysteries of the heavens that are too deep for any human mind, she has contained them in abstractions. The results are nevertheless realities of perception that manifested on her canvases as swirling strokes, an array of pristine colors and lights in spectacular explosions to meet the eye. They are a total departure from abstract imitations of things in the physical realm. She has gone into imagined shapes and color mixes that represent nothing beyond its self. But, it is no less than art that speaks of truth. For art is not only a portrayal of optical reality. Art is also a reflection of sociality, sentiments, beliefs and intentions. This is an illustration of a preordained order in the human being whose imperfection blooms in an endless variety of rich expressions.
Breakdown Analysis is the incidental title for Jemina’s show, on view from May 14 to 28 at Galerie Astra, located at the second floor of LRI Bldg., 210 Reposo St., Makati City. She obtained her degree in art studio at the University of California as a recipient of an art scholarship, a consistent dean’s lister during her stay.