October 11, 2004
Depict v.t. To portray or represent by drawing, sculpturing, painting [< L depictus, pp. of depingere to paint]
Poets, artists, writers, people with powerful creative mind can depict realities in surrealistic approach.
Recently, Negros Museum Phinma 2 Gallery opened its doors for Rianne Dawn Salvarita’s first solo art show titled “De Picturas,” a collection of Dumaguete-inspired artworks.
His ten-month stay in Dumaguete, for him, is but a “dream:” “De Picturas” appeared to me in the form of vision, something seen in a dream while on a trance’s ecstasy. It struck me while I was on an artistic vacation at my brother’s pad at “Sunshine Café (now known as Kiki Paintbox) in the city of Gentle People – a playland,” he said.
“Living in a quiet neighborhood (Silliman Avenue), my eccentric brother’s place became the cradle of my dreams and fantasies in as much as it inspired my green-activist artist brother. The place’ conducive atmosphere for art-making and poetic opportunities inspired me, the sting of loneliness breaking ground,” he added.
He called his first painting “The Day of Calm And Gloom.” It depicts the back door storage room of Sunshine Cafe full of antiquated things like a wooden divider, broken chairs, rugs, bottles, frames and pile of books.
According to painter-sculptor Maria Taniguchi, Salvarita’s works are reminiscent of De Chirico, an Italian painter. (July 10, 1888 – November 20, 1978).
Indeed, Salvarita said his works were De Chirican in its origin. “Some may call it recycling the past, but that’s what art is all about. I dismiss originality. Every art evolve; they are products of metamorphosis.”
His work “The Scientist: Cleaning the Room of Unseen Depth” captures the spirit of the artist himself inside Sunshine Cafe. On the other hand, Pavilion of Pleasures portrays a personal gratification through artificial satisfaction. The church on the background connotes a comparison of happiness that is both spiritual or artificial.
“Departure from the Playland” evokes De Chirico’s influence: the arches, the ochre-colored ground. The horse implicates the motion of changes at one’s departure.
Other images depicted on the canvas were Silliman University’s music room, the Perpetual church, a calesa-turned-carousel and other objects turned surreal — objects he composed in his mind while strolling along the boulevard.
The 24-year-old cutting-edge artist graduated Fine Arts major in Painting at La Consolacion College. He had several group art exhibits in Bacolod and Dumaguete. He co-founded Painting Legion (Bacolod) and Artantrum (Dumaguete), both visual arts organizations.
Aside from painting, Rianne is also a singer-songwriter for the band ShoeBox Anomaly; takes a natural high in mountain trekking, and once in a while flies a paraglide.
While strumming his guitar late one afternoon, he reminisced inside Sunshine Café. “Outside, the street evokes melancholy lit by the golden afternoon. There is no music at this hour. The town is under a coma. The time is frozen, deep shadows of the cityscapes creep to the pavement. Suddenly, reality bites me. I realized my paintings reverberate tension, alienation, dream and fantasy.”
The show opens this October and ends on November 8, 2004.
 “The Scientist: Cleaning the Room of Unseen Depths” |
 “Pavilion of Pleasures” |
 “The Stoic Skeletal Muse” |
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 “Departure to Playland” |
 “Passage to the Extraordinary Beauty and Power” |
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