WHERE WILD THINGS ARE ] Mark Justiniani explores unfamiliar territory

Justiniani's studies for Malikmata.

Celebrated painter, Mark Orozco Justiniani, veers his latest work away from the medium he has long been associated with and instead takes it to the world of sculpture where corners and frames cannot bind. This world, entitled Malikmata, is one where night and day converge, and folklore and reality abandon their distinction.

Justiniani’s keen interest in Filipino society and tradition takes the sculptural route to present Filipino folklore in a form that is multi-dimensional, concrete and tangible. Not only do the eyes find the splendor of the earth as the sun sets and shadows creep in; this in-between too awakens the other four senses, and at the same time stirs the imagination. Meant to heighten every sensation, Malikmata, Justiniani explains, involves a lot of ‘ “looking through” with peepholes and lenses with several angles and different vantage points’. With viewers’ participation, the world Justiniani creates is sculptural commentary infused with physical interaction.

Two more studies for Malikmata.

Malikmata opens tonight, February 19, with two other exhibitions at Silverlens.