IT is always refreshing to see a painting that shows how the artist has grown.
The work of art shows a transition, so to say, from an artist’s original way of painting a subject into what can now be called as an evolution in progress.
In this particular case, the crucible where the evolution takes place is the home studio of Jojo Gubalane in Minglanilla.
The local painter is looking for ways to make his art evolve into a more focused rendition and to give his figures a macro feel (i.e. universal and huge in impact) while at the same time intentionally diffusing light and color.
Every step toward evolution is a step toward progress in creating his art.
Gubalane is one of the mid-career artists in the local art exhibition scene. He has come a long way from being a realist artist at the start of his career.
His art today has moved by leaps and bounds, owing to his shift to a new style.
The figurative and modernist works he now does may stay true to form. However, it is in his stylized color schemes, emerging in his new paintings, that the artist has come to be known and has slowly come to create a unique identity.
Art comes alive only perhaps when it’s undergoing an evolution, and Gubalane is making sure to keep it that way.