Michelline Syjuco, “Revelation”



Press Release

Visual artist, jewelry and wearable art designer, and experimental sculptor Michelline Syjuco partners up with modern and contemporary art gallery Galerie Joaquin to present her first-ever solo exhibition of paintings entitled, “Revelation.” The landmark show of 20 paintings will be set in the pop-up art space at 8 Rockwell from January 16 to 31, 2018, with a private Artist’s Reception to be held on the 25th of January 2018 at 6:30 in the evening.

A literal revelation, the internationally acclaimed artist Michelline unveils an artistic side to her heretofore self unknown to the public. The surreal landscapes intertwined with avant-garde floral motifs are at once unearthly yet beautiful. Unlike her bold and imposing jewelry, bags, and wearable sculptures inspired by sword and sorcery, the baroque, and the phantasmagorical, Michelline’s paintings are flowing and elegant, drawing from organic forms. The deconstructed floral configurations undulate rhythmically - swirling line patterns weave to and fro, leading the eye from one bunch of liquefied blooms to the next, while simultaneously serving to tie the forms together in a cohesive, almost sculptural, whole. Michelline’s flowers—alternating from concretely defined shapes to watery explosions of color—punctuate the dream-like planes and serve as take off points for interpretations from multiple perspectives. Abstracted as they are, the artworks in “Revelation” can be seen as landscapes, flora, undersea corals, or gaseous nebulae in the darkness of space.

The eldest daughter of experimental artists Cesare and Jean Marie Syjuco, Michelline has been surrounded by art since her first breaths. Her participation in the Annual Exhibition of the Art Association in the Philippines at the age of four made her one of the country’s youngest painters. She has been a two-time finalist of the Ateneo Art Awards, a representative in the Sungduan Art Exhibition at the National Museum of the Philippines, and a participant in the Great Women ASEAN Platform that strengthens women impact enterprises. She has exhibited her wearable artworks at the Yuchengco Museum, Magnet Gallery, Galerie Roberto, and Qube Gallery. Michelline is also a leading figure of the Manila Art Vanguard, best known for her radical work incorporating torched and rusted hand beaten metal, hand carved wood, and industrial hardware. Her meticulously elaborate detailing and fine embellishments speak of her maximalist style and insistence on quality. The unique character of her artworks have brought her to represent the Philippines at the London Fashion Week 2015, Vogue Italia’s Talent Awards, and the Paris Design Week. Michelline’s pieces are sought after by international collectors that seek daring yet tasteful designs; her clientele includes icons like Pearl Lam and Valerie Hermann.

While Michelline has firmly aligned her previous designs with the dark and gothic, the paintings in “Revelation,” while lighter in subject, also stem from her love for the phantasmagorical and mystical. Like fairytales that hide crueler stories of uncomfortable historical events, her floral interpretations intersperse the brightly colored flowers with bursts and streaks of black. But however cruel the human events behind fairy tales, nature’s cycle knows the same tragedy without nostalgia. Michelline simultaneously depicts the morbid and the beautiful as not only one and the same, but as inseparable.

“Revelation,” Michelline Syjuco’s first exhibition of paintings will be shown by Galerie Joaquin at the Ground Floor Lobby of 8 Rockwell, Rockwell Center, Makati City from 16 to 31 January, with a private Artist’s Reception on January 25, 2018. For inquiries, please contact the gallery at (02) 723 9253 or email them at info@galeriejoaquin.com.