September in the Philippines can be politically contentious largely due to former President Ferdinand Marcos’s declaration of Martial law on September 21. And this turmoil was reflected in many of the art exhibits BluPrint covered for the month. But for this round-up of art exhibits in September, BluPrint highlights artworks that explore the artists’ inner […]
Cabangis Family Joins Forces for Collaborative Exhibit in Modeka Art
Homemade puts together four of the members of the Cabangis family in their first group exhibit. The Modeka Art show, open until September 28, gives the artists a great opportunity to display their art together as a way of exploring their present works in relation to each other.
The patriarch Benjie Cabangis, and his three children Aaron, Li, and Zean, were invited by one of the gallery’s owners, Arvin Viola, to mount a show in the space. The works came together over time, in the different locations they were based at, as they all agreed to mount the show together.
“It’s our first family show,” Benjie Cabangis explained. “And then we went here and looked at the space and found the space very interesting because of all the areas and even the pocket spaces.”
According to Aaron, “wala namang kaming ‘big idea’ na pinag-usapan, it’s more of like, ‘what are we all doing at the present?’” He later added, “the big collaboration theme, I guess, is we just put in what we have at the present moment.”
A Family Affair
The patriarch of the Cabangis family, Benjie, said that he based the works he included on the floor plan of the gallery. His works include a gigantic abstract painting that covers the entire wall of the exhibit.
The plans for the exhibit evolved as each family member put forward their works. Li Cabangis called the exhibit and her involvement a “semi-spontaneous” affair.
Li said that it was only supposed to be only the three who were invited to the exhibit. This changed when her body of work started coming together and she was invited by her siblings to participate.
“As they created their own pieces and everything, I also created my own na kahit walang dahilan, gawa lang ako ng gawa everyday. Noong huling-huli, siguro nakita nila na ang dami na, ang dami ko nang gawa. And at the same time, yung word ng kapatid ko is ‘hinog na,’ hinog na yung idea ko. So sinama na rin nila ako,” she said.
Making Their Mark
Visitors of all temperaments and tastes will have so much to chew on at Homemade. The Cabangis family’s individual artistic muses vary wildly from each other, and each member brings their own unique ideas to the table.
When one enters the exhibit, the most prominent thing to be seen are the tactile works of Zean Cabangis. He utilized the gallery’s spacious floor to mount an L-shaped installation.
Concrete blocks were stacked in the corners, while wooden planks precariously held colored, broken stones. It comes together as almost apocalyptic in its unfinished nature, questioning society’s obsession with progress.
“His works emanate from the notion of sudden catastrophic events that would lead works to generate a life of its own,” the exhibit write-up said. “As something ‘quite unfinished,’ he points out that in the process nature will do the rest.”
Converging Nature and Progress
While Zean’s work operates on a cynical perspective of society today, Aaron’s collection of work literally radiates optimism.
Aaron Cabangis’ work attempts to merge found objects in nature with the manmade objects. Presented in the darker, more secluded parts of the gallery, he brings together a colorful light show that portrays how progress and nature coexist together.
“I have two mediums,” he said. “I have the found objects from nature. [And] I have man-made fixtures, which are the lights, which are all [bound] together by the energy of light. For me, it’s the co-existing between nature and man-made stuff. Ganon lang siya ka-simple. [It’s that simple.] When they co-exist, it creates harmony together.”
He said that the explorations of nature and society ties itself into the fabric of humanity itself. “As we grew, as we go along with life, parang natututunan lang namin [we learned] to respect yung boundaries ng lahat, ng nature and manmade,” he said. “Kailangan mo siya i-balance out together to live. [You need to balance the two together to live.]”
Encouraging a Sense of Play
Li Cabangis’s work for the exhibit utilized foams meant for children’s playrooms to create sculptures that evoke a comforting feeling to viewers. It feels both grounded and unrestrained, using materials that ensure kids’ safety to allow the imagination of others to emerge.
Her collection of works came from a sense of play. She said that she allowed her intuition to take control of how she created her works from the materials. One of her sculptures, yellow and shaped like the sun, she said she created from leftover materials that she put together in a circular way. That sense of intuition worked for everything she submitted for the exhibition.
“Para sa akin, pag nakikita ko siya, bumabalik yung excitement ko sa sarili ko, bumabalik yung sense of play,” she said. “So, yun yung finollow ko. And at the same time, all in all, there were no drawings or plans or anything, I really just followed my inner gut, inner feeling with it.”
Connecting the Inner Child
Hopefully, she said, she wants to inspire people to connect with their inner child to find themselves better.
“Gusto ko i-inspire na pwede kang bumalik sa sense of childhood mo, sense of being yourself talaga para mahanap mo din ang sarili mo. Kasi, parang pansin ko ngayon, pag naghahanap ng sarili, puro outside, pero actually, ang lahat naman ng sagot ay nasa sayo lang talaga,” she said.
[I want to help inspire people to return to their sense of childhood, sense of being yourself to find yourself. I noticed that when people look for themselves, they look outside. But the answers are really deep inside you.]
Cabangis Family Values
Homemade shows the Cabangis family’s works in a way that allows us to see where they diverge and converge from each other. Even with the different places of work and mediums, their collaborative effort shines through, where one is left with the feeling of connectivity even with the variety of works shown in the exhibit.
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