Patterns in nature

MANILA, Philippines – From the tiniest atom to the grandest galaxies, the past, the present and the future of every animate and inanimate being in the universe, we are defined by our connection to everything else because this connection transports and transforms the life we cherish.

Olivia d’Aboville has found a rhythm in the harmony of such patterns found throughout nature, having examined and admired them up close as a diver in her hometown Puerto Galera, and she’s since harnessed their beauty as a sculptor and textile designer. Manipulating the flexibility and reflectiveness of recycled plastic to recreate the deep-sea glow of its inhabitants, last year she sculpted Shibori-dyed Tepina and pure Princesa silk to capture the temperament of the ocean.

In her latest exhibition, “Surface,” d’Aboville is no fish out of water as she pulls us out of the depths and shows off the bigger picture. Her use of earthy hues that contrast her usual monochrome aquatic and translucent palette affirms that this pattern is present, no matter the scale or distance.

The idea came to d’Aboville while she was manipulating abaca textiles handwoven by Cebu Interlace. “They had an existing stunning pattern of pleats and stitches which made me want to work with the material. The organic and Filipino elements are beautiful. The colors were very natural which reminded me of landscapes,” she says.

The term “surface” also suggests the notion of textile surface. The textile manipulation, detailed by d’Aboville, was a feat in itself. The multi-step process began as early as September, hand-weaving 60 meters of abaca/polyester textile and digital printing images of soil (dark, red, orange, surface of the moon) and color gradients onto the textile by heat-press, transferred only to the synthetic fibers.

Only thereafter will d’Aboville begin pleating and stitching repetitively, allowing for depth and dimension, the manipulation of the textile into its final sculptural shape. At 140 centimeters in width, the full organic form of each wall-bound piece is treated like a creature all its own, exhibited without a canvas. “The organic is a key element behind the works. The manipulated textiles each dictate their own final form,” d’Aboville says.

The resulting surfaces replicate aerial views of the planet’s skin: the landscape of deserted sand dunes in gradients of brown to beige at the golden hour, or tides crashing on a cold beach. And yet beside it are magnified tree bark textures or mushroom umbrellas and the microscopic level of vegetal skin cells blown up, all on a human scale. This contrasting juxtaposition confirms, like in the patterns that persist in nature, that we are one and alike after all.

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“Surface” is showing until Feb. 7 at Altro Mondo Arte Contemporanea, Greenbelt 5, Makati.