MANILA, Philippines - On June 12, as the country celebrated its Independence Day, artist Ramon Orlina mounted a show called “Brilliance,” a tribute to the country’s national heroes in art at the second level, Archeology Hall, of Power Plant Mall in Rockwell.
“It was a rare and proud moment for me as our National Artists gathered to show their support for my art,” says Orlina.
Attending the opening of the show were six National Artists, namely, Frankie Sionil Jose, Bienvenido Lumbera, Abdulmari Asia Imao, Napoleon Abueva, Arturo Luz, and Ben Cabrera.
For the last three decades, Orlina has been transfiguring glass into art. He was the first to carve figures out of blocks of glass using the cold method, cutting, grinding, and polishing his work with improvised tools and instruments — a feat at that time yet unreplicated, even in highly industrialized countries. That he was self-taught, with hardly any predecessor, mentor, or influence to emulate, makes his achievement all the more outstanding.
Orlina’s reputation extends to art circles and patrons in Asia, Europe and the United States. Among his art awards is a special prize he won called “Mr. F Prize” in the 1999 Toyamura International Sculpture Biennale, Japan. Subsequently in the year 2000, he won the first prize in the Sculpture Category of the II International Biennale of Basketball in the Fine Arts, Madrid, Spain. His masterpieces place him, in international appraisals of the art, among the gurus Dale Chihuly of the United States and Bertil Vallien of Sweden.??He has been conferred two prestigious ASEAN Awards in the field of Visual Arts and recently in 2006 he was bestowed The Outstanding Filipino (TOFIL) Award for having led a life of excellence in the field of Arts and having contributed immensely to public welfare and national development.
“Brilliance” runs until June 24 at Archeology Hall of Power Plant Mall, Rockwell Center, Makati.