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Julieanne Ng Imprints Her Existential Crisis in New Exhibit
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A Glimpse Across The Fleeting Light, the new exhibit by Julieanne Ng at MO_Space in BGC, envisions the personal existential journey of the artist through an ingenious use of candles and paint. The works portray a sense of the universe’s effusive nature, overflowing with meaning even in its most minimalist nature.
For this exhibit, Julieanne Ng utilizes a single candle to imprint images on the canvas. The choice of the candle signals the intent of tackling a sort of deeper implication in the work, an attempt to connect to a higher, more ancient level of existence. It finds the universal in the atomized particular, a common theme emerging from Ng’s work.
“The entire show is about my attempt to visualize what goes beyond the physical form,” she said. “Culturally, candles are used as a connection, as a bridge, or as a link between our world and the next. We see this whenever we use [it for] doing offerings to the church, or even as simple as blowing a candle for every birthday. There’s that notion of wanting [in the practice].”
Candles and Painting
For A Glimpse Across The Fleeting Light, Julieanne Ng covered the candle with black paint to either stamp it straight or roll it across the canvas. She also uses white in certain paintings. Ng shared that she wanted to utilize white paint for the whole exhibit, but she didn’t like how it tended to disappear in certain angles.
The process of imprinting the candle on the canvas eventually softened it due to its material nature. This forced Ng to be more careful with the latter paintings in the exhibit to be able to use the same candle for them all.
“Actually, what’s more amazing here is that, if you see this,” she said, referencing her paintings, “you can see that [the] pattern [here], medyo nagpa-flatten na siya. And the thing is, the candle itself is very soft. I have to be very careful with how I apply pressure to it.
“So, [in this work] parang okay pa kasi matigas pa yung candle and everything. But like, as I continue with the entire process, nagiging flat na siya. It also says a lot about the process, even the time that was spent.”
Existential Dreams and Wanderings
The combination creates a unique image akin to looking at plant cells under a microscope, or ancient hieroglyphic writing. The circles, especially with the layering, look like the symbols from 2016’s Arrival. At times, the layering of the black and white paints create an ephemeral sheen that adds to the existential notes that she desired to have.
Julieanne Ng said that she wanted to explore the angst that comes within the repetitive and often unfulfilling existence within our society. Eventually, she ended up creating a literal scroll with candle imprints that goes from the ceiling to the floor of one corner of the gallery. This led her to explore a deeper existential angst coming from the candle imprints, how ancient much of that exploration is.
“I think one of the inquiries that I wanted to answer here is ‘what goes beyond the physical form?,’” she said. “Syempre, our life is filled with repetitions, routines. Even the process of making the artwork, it’s all repetition. So, I guess one of the things that I wanted to ask is, ‘Is it worth it? What goes beyond that? Are we just stuck in this series of cycles?’ But the thing is, the more I try to make sense of this, the more abstract it becomes.”
Provoking Question and Thought
A Glimpse Across The Fleeting Light doesn’t necessarily find the answers to the darkness that careens through our existence. But art isn’t really meant to answer any question, but to provoke thought. And Julieanne Ng’s representation of the cyclical systems we endure feels provocative, balancing self-reflection with a stark act of doing. It leaves behind an artistic statement that endures beyond one’s feelings of crisis.
A Glimpse Across The Fleeting Light is open at MO_Space in Bonifacio High Street until February 9.
Photos by Elle Yap.
Related reading: ‘More|Less’: Portraying the Hecticness of the Information Age
Frequently Asked Questions
In this collection, the candle serves as a symbolic bridge between the physical world and the spiritual realm. Culturally associated with offerings and wishes, the candle allows Ng to explore what lies beyond physical form, using it to imprint rhythmic, repetitive patterns that suggest an ancient connection to existence.
Julieanne Ng coats a single candle in black or white paint and either stamps it directly or rolls it across the canvas. This unconventional technique creates textures reminiscent of plant cells or ancient hieroglyphics, resulting in an ephemeral sheen that captures the artist’s ruminations on the universal and the microscopic.
Because wax is a soft material, the candle began to flatten and lose its shape due to the repeated pressure of application. This physical degradation of the tool became a reflection of the time spent on the work, forcing Ng to adjust her pressure carefully to ensure the single candle lasted throughout the entire series.
The floor-to-ceiling scroll represents the repetitive cycles and routines of daily life, questioning whether there is deeper meaning beyond these series of actions. By filling the long medium with candle imprints, Ng visualizes the “existential angst” of modern society and the abstract nature of seeking purpose within a cyclical existence.
The exhibit is hosted at MO_Space, located in Bonifacio High Street, BGC. It is open for public viewing until February 9, offering visitors a chance to reflect on Ng’s provocative representations of self-reflection and the human place within the universe.
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