Provenance: Provenance: Blanc Gallery, Quzon City

ABOUT THE WORK

It takes a certain degree of contemplation to become aware of the Buddha’s presence in Lao Lianben’s painting aptly entitled Buddha. Employing a minimalist style, Lianben's work invites us to enter a present state of mind as we nurture a reflective relationship between his art and our personal truths. The work translates into Lao’s characteristic abstraction a mind in meditation—a metaphorical shadow of the Buddha as alluded to in the title. While much of the color within this shape is white and pure—aside from the shadow of the buddha— beyond the outline of this shape is the cracked surface of the world that continues to assail a mind embedded in corporeal reality. But their relationship is pronounced, and in fact fundamentally opposed as if to emphasize that a man’s ultimate goal is to possess clarity of thought.