“Sagayno”

CEBU, Philippines — Much has been said about how all-encompassing the metro’s creative mindset

is shaping up to be, what with its many talents notorious for ambidextrously recognizing creative traditions while keeping a sharp eye on contemporary art’s progressions.

This aspect to the prowess of Cebu’s talent pool is brought to the fore in an exhibit that’s currently ongoing at the third level of the Ayala Center Cebu.

Simply titled “Sagayno” and ongoing until August 22, the exhibit presents a revue of paintings by artist and educator Lucilo “Jojo” Sagayno. Basically, it’s a one-man exhibit that’s anchored on the “Fluid Art” or “Acrylic Flow” technique. Attributed to have been popularized by American abstract expressionist Jackson Pollock in early to mid-1900s, Sagayno’s take on the creative style takes center stage in this exhibit – which is basically a re-articulation of the “free flow” concept that steers the “Fluid Art” flow, identified as a technique wherein an artist employs the natural fluid motions of liquid pigments to render patterns and forms.

Sagayo did not only work with a wide range of pigment binders and thinners for the exhibit’s featured pieces, he also utilized admixtures and various methods of layering. Like working on rasters on image editing software, the artist played with layers of compositions in each of the show’s presented works – layers whose threshold levels are meticulously muted and cropped at certain points, then purposely interjected with other layers to set a piece’s compositional congruence.

Sagayno’s approach to “Fluid Art” highlights the process-oriented aspects of the style – exemplifying what an artist can achieve when artmaking processes takes prominence over compositional or thematic values.

Sagayno, however, paradoxically treads on expressionism’s “free flow” premise by forestalling its self-imposed directions, keen on conscientiously tempering the flow – not going along with the fluidity of its tempers.