Nice to meet you

CEBU, Philippines - Frelan and Karina Gonzaga's debut collaborative art exhibit in Cebu bore an old-school-yet-contemporary tone that framed visual art's capacity to conscientiously defy the predictable - earmarking that relationships and the emotions that come with their waxing and waning play crucial roles in the molding of creative mindsets.

Presented by Qube Gallery as its showcased exhibit for June, the show featured a series of canvas-bound works that were made by two of Bacolod's up-and-coming talents - works steeped with the individual creative styles and pieces which the two artists worked on together; not as husband and wife, but as strangers in the process of getting to know each other.

Titled "Nice to Meet You" and steered by a 'four-stage process', the show's thematic outline began with the artists working on pieces that were indicative of their personal creative methods - a starting point which invariably served as their reintroduction to each other.

This was followed by a volley of creative collaborations which required one artist to finish a work then have it 'edited" by the other. A similar collaboration wherein half-done pieces by one artist were completed by the other followed after this.

Eventually, the 'four-stage process' culminated with the 'birth' of a new artist who was born from the broken barriers of animosity - a 'third exhibiting artist' whom the couple named "FREAK."

Equal parts experimental and thought-provoking, "Nice to Meet You" reminded of the dualistic nature of personal walls - that, in as much as personal barriers are effective deterrents against outside dangers, they are ineffective against the dangers inside.

For artists - regardless of age, gender or creative slants - stagnation is as dangerous as adhering to the ruinous aspects of caprice.

For the Gonzagas, "Nice to Meet You" served as their way of addressing this creative conundrum - an exhibit that exemplified what can creative individuals can achieve when personal walls and barriers are broken down. (FREEMAN)