“MUNDANE Rituals” is Mark “KDLT” Copino’s latest exhibit at the Qube Gallery. Though there are plenty to see in this exhibit, for KDLT, there are really only five. The pieces are thematically grouped into “Burning Houses,” “Morning Rituals,” “Necessities of Moving Things,” “Inaudible Musings” and “Getting Lost and Finding Your Own Self.”
“Burning Houses” features all white sculptures of 10 tall houses, topped with the resemblance of candle flames. “Morning Rituals” features two paintings, each with a sitting figure, hung and made to look like facing each other. “Necessities of Moving Things” features three paintings that portray four figures moving furniture and things. “Inaudible Musings” features five paintings with different names: “Solitude,” “Understanding Prayer,” “Night Swim,” “Counting Days” and “Visiting Old Goodbyes.” Last, “Getting Lost and Finding Your Own Self” features a dozen small paintings of a boy in monochromatic blue, in different poses of encountering what life has to offer.
It’s hard to categorize KDLT’s art. It’s contemporary but not quite abstract or realistic. It is sparing with its colors; The background is white, the figures are in blue or red. Abstract details of works like “Daily Ritual” are in blue, or in the case of “Solitude,” monochromatic black. The artist calls it “stencil art.”
“The technique is stencil. I use stencil in forming my art in acrylic on paper. Now that I have evolved, I also include glass. It’s assemblage because I include glass. Framing is specialized, and some of them have house shapes,” shared the artist.
KDLT says he is a fine arts school dropout, mainly because he wanted street art as the subject of his thesis. He was into street art, and affiliated himself with group, UBEC Crew. Asked how street artists could earn with their art, he answered: “No, we don’t earn. But sometimes, some person likes what he sees and looks for the artist and commissions him to do a mural or some work for an event. We ask for more paint than we can use for the commissioned work, so we can do another street mural.” Incidentally, he has not been into street art for a year.
Asked why he calls himself KDLT, Copino said he was wondering what alias to use to sign his street murals with, and recalled a lightning storm he witnessed that lasted three to five minutes. So, he signed his art KDLT for the vernacular of lightning, kidlat, minus the vowels.
“Mundane Rituals” is about daily routines, which KDLT thinks may be mundane but are essential parts of day-to-day living. KDLT’s third solo exhibit, can be found in Qube Gallery, Cebu City and is ongoing until Sept. 22.