Provenance: Private Collection, Manila

ABOUT THE WORK

The lauded visual artist Ronson Culibrina is known for his unique and playful, yet deeply profound reimaginings of culture and history in the context of contemporary society. In this piece entitled Dalaga, Culibrina synthesizes an iconic sepia-toned portrait attributed to our colonial past, with a relatively brighter and more contemporary palette featuring an isometric pattern to achieve a three-dimensional effect. This piece aptly exhibits a common theme throughout Culibrina’s artistic practice; one that is concerned with the intersection of tradition and modernity. This particular artistic trajectory of his is inspired by his personal experiences and observations as both a citizen and an onlooker observing the convergence of globalization and tradition in a developing country. Culibrina’s disposition is one of acceptance and understanding. He holds no specific bias nor favors a particular set of ideas. Instead, Culibrina welcomes the culture’s inherent characteristic to shift and change with the times.