Provenance: Provenance: Acquired directly from the artist by the present owner

ABOUT THE WORK

Order and chaos, containment and expansion, emotion and physical realities—Edwin Wilwayco explores these in his thematic and conceptual abstract series with perseverance. He also focuses on shapes as source material to produce vibrant lyrical forms. One of which is the circle, a defined geometric form added as substrates to gestural spaces with attention to layers, texture, and color palette. Wilwayco’s Circle painting series is a progression from his Fractals series in 2015. This particular painting, Circles, On and On #45, engages the viewer with the present vibrant chromatics, gestural marks, and signature stylistic techniques that reveal the influences of Kandinsky, Pollock, and de Kooning. Paint is also applied in varied viscosity levels. The complex composition displays Wilwayco’s genius renditions of movement and spatial depth and utilization of the power of repetition. With Wilwayco, one encounters expressive works from a determined abstractionist who believes that a painting is meant not merely to be admired but also to spark communication. In describing his Circle paintings, art critic Josephine Fatima Martins notes: “Always attempting to find balance, he bravely confronts and examines artificial and natural constructs as his main theme; this time, using the circle motif, as metaphor, with its myriad symbolistic earth and sky-bound meanings to guide and project questions and engage in dialogue about concerns outside of painting and art.” The circles in his paintings raise the question on how the shape brings out a sense of safety and restraint at the same time and the ideal level of order.