Accompanied by a certificate issued by the artist confirming the authenticity of this lot

ABOUT THE WORK

Alchemy, a precursor of the modern sciences, is the amalgamation of scientific procedures and of arcane imagination. It was usually aimed at the purification of base metals to gold and the concoction of an “elixir of life everlasting.” This is how Ramon Orlina alludes to his art being “arcane and alchemic.” Aside from his “alchemic” procedures, Orlina’s sculptural outcome purvey the sense of clarity and purity of both his medium and form when light penetrates the glass, sans the gold. Life everlasting for Orlina is seen through the interior forms of the glass multiplied, thus the viewer is offered a view of infinity and life everlasting. Dubbed as “Asia’s Wizard of Glass,” Orlina’s style is an arbitration of both sculptural aesthetic and architectural science that draws from his own personal experience amidst Philippine life with its colorful characters. In this work Coalesce, two individual pieces of carved glass are melded into one sculptural work. A consummate storyteller with his strong visual narratives, his works depict a never-ending tapestry with characters that are products of his painstaking research and nuanced interest in details.