Ronson Culibrina’s 2018 Vain Aquatic Capital follows the artist’s penchant for playful interpretations of pressing socio-political-topics. Hailing from his first solo exhibition entitled Above Sea Level, Vain Aquatic Capital is one of Culibrina’s interpretations of a coastal town rapidly facing decline due to human exploitation and overconsumption. “Culibrina veers away from apocalyptic, desolate depictions of a moribund ecosystem,” writes the exhibition’s press release, “instead visualizing this conflict through frenzied, carnivalesque seascapes that appropriate humorous popculture references both formally and conceptually.” Vain Aquatic Capital follows this formula -- as one looks deeper into the work, one would find multiple contradicting elements. A massive toy rubber duck floats on the sea while at the bottom of the canvas lies a miniature barungbarong. The stems of the plants surrounding the sea reach out to the circle of fishing boats as though zombies itching to drag humans down with it. The result is a cohesive chaos that further emphasizes Culibrina’s stance on nature’s rapid deterioration, his anxieties with its rapid transformation, and a clear call to address the growing concern regarding society’s unsustainability with nature’s resources. (Hannah Valiente)
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Ronson Culibrina (b. 1991)
Vain Aquatic Capital
signed and dated 2018 (lower left)
oil on canvas
48” x 60” (122 cm x 152 cm)
PHP 300,000
Exhibited: Yavuz Gallery, Above Sea Level, Singapore, 26 August - 16 September 2018