Kublai Millan is Mindanao’s most prolific visual artist, rendering canvases with colorful palettes, larger-than-life sculptures, and monuments. Advocating to bring out the stories of Mindanao through his artworks in various forms, Kublai believes what he has rendered so far is not yet what his soul is reaching out for.
Summa is one of those meanderings his mind has segued to in trying to grasp—in figures and colors—this continuing journey into his art. From abstractions of everyday scenes in Mindanao—from nature’s gifts to children’s games and indigenous people’s culture and norms. Summa simplifies the compositions further into symbols, rendering fewer lines through deeper introspections.
Summa is about condensing a whole gamut of emotions, experiences, and scenes into blocks and figures of colors that brings out “Aha!” moments within those who look long enough. It’s an invitation to let the lines and colors speak their messages from what was there before to what it has become—a synthesis of what the artist has seen and experienced, which he brings with him in this journey beyond just knowing himself as a Mindanaoan artist, but who a Mindanaoan is beyond Mindanao.
In the process, too, he is inviting the audience to reflect on the temporariness of what is now to the permanence of who we really are, as one people, as one soul—all of humanity.
Another unique aspect of Kublai’s works are his use of organic shapes yet resemble geometric figures that favor a contrasting view of explored open form, piercing figures and objects by letting the space flow through them, blending background into foreground, and showing objects from various angles.
In this exhibition, Kublai Millan presents his sum of symbols, an exploration of Summa in its myriad forms. It is an invitation to contemplate the interconnectedness of our existence, to navigate the depths of our shared histories, and to find meaning in the profound tapestry of life itself.
The exhibition ran from July 2 to 15 at Art Lounge Manila in Podium, Mandaluyong City. The opening reception will be on July 8 at 6:00PM. For more information visit the Art Lounge Manila website www.artloungemanila.com. You may also check their social media pages FB: @artloungemanila IG: @artloungemanila for more details.