Artistic inspiration comes in numerous forms. For Kristine Lim, it is her faith and nationalism that gives birth to her works in her latest solo exhibition “SOAR” at The Manila Hotel for the month of October. Lim creates a cohesive and compelling exhibition using the Philippine eagle as the central motif with complementing verses from the Bible scribbled lightly at the edge of each work.
A powerful animal endemic to the Philippines, it is a symbol of the nation; and a reminder of both how blessed we are with natural resources, and how we need rightful stewardship in keeping the balance, as it is critically endangered due to the loss of habitat from the encroachment of Filipinos and the deliberate destruction of our forests in the name of unsustainable progress.
As a symbol, it is emblematic of both the potential of Filipinos as a people, and the complicated societal imbalances we face because of our colonial baggage in all aspects of culture, politics, and economy. In its solitary appearance in all the works, the artist seems to also imply the need to be in our own space, to reflect, and to have an honest appraisal and reckoning with ourselves.
With SOAR, Lim proposes a potential way to salvation, based on the guiding principles of her Christian faith. Reflecting on how the eagle is often used in the Bible as a metaphor to compare the impossible heights God raises his people in an effort to keep them away from harm and to raise them in exultation, Lim proposes a total surrender such as she has experienced, when she has undergone personal tribulations, one after another in quick succession, and emerged from it unscathed as she lifted all these up in faith.
A total of 33 works, several of them triptychs, are on display. She uses a specialized technique of combining a special textured ground with layers of transparent metallic bronze and gold colored glazes over the graphite pentimenti, or under drawings, which she deliberately allows to be seen as a trace of the journey the artist makes in the making of any work, and occasionally adding special details like straight gold lines, reminiscent of her graphic design practice, and small, shaped mirrors and textured and brightly colored red resinous epoxy to attach them which both illuminate and serve as surfaces of reflection.
“SOAR” is Kristine Lim’s 2nd solo exhibition. It is presented by Art Lounge Manila and proceeds of the Closing Auction will go to Malasakit Para Sa Bayan Foundation Inc.
