Erika Arroyo at Pinto Art Gallery
MANILA, Philippines - Dr. Joven R. Cuanang and the officers of the Silangan Foundation for Arts, Culture and Ecology present “Art, Function, and Fantasy from Fired Earth†featuring the art of Erika Arroyo. The show opens on May 12, 3 p.m., at Pinto Art Gallery in Antipolo.
Arroyo is a New York-based Filipino artist who creates whimsical, thought-provoking, and functional stoneware pieces glazed in a painterly style.
The artist has been part of group shows such as “Trip7†at The Drawing Room in 2004 and “Objects of Art†at the Philippine Center Gallery in New York City in November 2005. Her work was chosen to be part of a juried exhibition at the Washington Square East Gallery’s prestigious “Small Works†show in lower Manhattan in January 2005, and, in 2006, she was invited to show as the only potter at the 1st NY Coffee and Tea Festival in Manhattan. She has also been a participant in the annual Sagtikos Manor Art Show from 2010 through 2012.
She explains, “My basic fascination with pottery is: a piece basically starts with what is considered “dirt†or “earth†in its simplest form. A painter starts with a blank canvas that is usually gessoed and pristine white, then paints layers on it. A sculptor starts with more varied media — stone, wood, and even clay — then chips away at it to get to the final form. A potter takes a handful, or more, of grains of earth, binds them together with water, and creates something from those molecules that were once disconnected to each other. From uniting those separate components, a functional and, oftentimes, beautiful whole is born. It feels a bit like a metaphor for why the world and its peoples should come together.â€
The show is on view until June 3. Pinto Art Gallery is at The Silangan Gardens, 1 Sierra Madre St., Grand Heights, Antipolo City. For information, call 697-1015.
