“NO STRAIGHT LINES”
In traditionally going by a “what you see is what you get” approach in artmaking, landscape paintings are often perceived to be the least contemporary of creative modes and genres.
But as closely associated as landscapes are with old school norms, its seemingly tired and tried reputation has actually made it rife for creative expositions and innovations, and this aspect to landscapes and landscaping serves as the heart of the exhibit “No Straight Lines,” the month’s featured show of Qube Contemporary at the Design Center of Cebu along A.S. Fortuna Street in Mandaue. The exhibit presents a series of contemporary landscapes made by Cebuano suprematist and neo impressionist Golda King.
Known for contextualizing compositional structure in the form of circles and dots, in this show Golda shies away from the pointillism-inspired style she’s become famous for, as here she concerns herself with describing the verity of art and nature through visual metaphors of real and imagined places that have been blended as one.
Importing visual and tactile impressions of nature from personal reflections, introspections and experiences, Golda doesn’t appear to be making a conscious effort to instill nature’s “spirit’ or “soul” into the exhibit’s presented works. Rather, she brings up how unified colors, atmospheric effects and simplified shapes can evoke an emotional response that panders to the concept of peaceful, serene or nostalgic spaces.
In attending to this sensibility associated with landscapes, Golda metaphorically enthuses that landscapes prompt viewers not just to see what is there but to see beyond. As she grapples with the conditions of life and nature from where art could emerge, “No Straight Lines” serves as Golda’s commentary on the diversity that predictability can generate – which quality sets the show as her take on how lines can be made when there are none.