PAIR 2
RD Daniel & Paige Espiritu
RD Daniel & Paige Espiritu
Artist
RD Daniel is a Filipino architect, designer, illustrator, visual artist, and instructor based in Parañaque City, Philippines. He earned his Bachelor's degree in Architecture from the University of Santo Tomas and acquired his professional license as an architect in 2019.
Drawing inspiration from his personal experiences, influences, and background in architecture, RD creates imagery accompanied by architectural details and botanical elements. His work centers on capturing the ambiance and subtleties in a moment and in a space.
As an architect, his architectural work background mainly involves residential and commercial projects. He also currently teaches Manual Visual Techniques and Architectural Design as an instructor at the University of Santo Tomas, College of Architecture.
Art Critic
Paige Espiritu (b. 1995, Mandaluyong City) is a cultural worker based in Manila, Philippines. With a strong interest in visual art at a young age, she decided to pursue a career in the art industry. She graduated from De La Salle - College of Saint Benilde with a degree in Arts Management in 2016. After graduation, she immediately began her career in the industry as a gallerist. Her artistic preferences began with traditional mediums but transitioned into more conceptual work such as installation and video art after being immersed in the local contemporary art scene. After working in two galleries, she currently works in a museum.
Stage 0
Conceptualization, Portfolio Review, & Artist Interview
The artist provides a brief description of the concept they intend to explore or develop for Confluence.
---
Notes on initial concept
Written by RD Daniel
The core concept of my work are visual interpretations, mainly through illustrations but with the possibility of experimenting with different mediums, that capture the ambience and subtleties in a moment and in a space, much like finding beauty in the mundane and the ordinary.
Most subjects of my work involve botanical and architectural elements, inspired by objects and spaces that relate to my daily life and experiences. Underlying themes and inspirations of my work revolves around growth and being in the present, trying to relieve myself from the pressures of daily life. I translate these inspirations visually through minimalist illustrations, influenced by my fascination with architecture, design, and philosophical concepts of Zen and Wabi-sabi.
I do hope the viewers of my work feel a sense of peace and calmness.
I mainly use graphite and charcoal as a medium, as I think it is one of the simplest mediums to work with. I also try to present my ideas by simply drawing or painting only what I think is essential to the piece, trying not to overwork and clutter the whole composition.
My overall appreciation and fascination with philosophies like wabi-sabi, where the mundane and everyday objects are given appreciation, is what inspired me to explore this concept. I think personally, the struggles and anxieties that come from just existing is exhausting, hence my preference to just take a step back and a breather to appreciate the present and the little things.
In both of my practices as a designer and an artist, I think there are similarities and influences from each other. I hope for this work to be a crossroad of the two, an expression of my vision, and a defining start for my journey as a visual artist.
Drawing inspiration from personal experiences, and fascination with architecture and design, and appreciation for the beauty in the ordinary, RD Daniel creates imagery that centers around capturing subtleties and ambience of a moment and a space. From objects, experiences, and spaces relating to everyday life, he translates these inspirations to illustrations and visualizations, as a reminder to pause and rest, and appreciate the present and the little things that come with it.
I simply want my viewers to feel calm, trying not to overwhelm them with loud elements. I want them to feel like they are having a rest when viewing my works.
The art critic collects information by reviewing portfolios and conducting artist interviews, which they subsequently use to formulate an initial assessment of the artist's artwork and creative process.
---
About RD Daniel
Written by Paige Espiritu
RD Daniel’s work captures quiet vignettes of everyday life, a contemplative view of mundane spaces. These images of spaces often depict architectural details and botanical elements, a nod to his background. His training in architecture is evident in his draftsmanship and understanding of perspective. This can be seen in the straight lines that traverse the length of the images he creates.
Daniel does not shy away from experimenting with different mediums. Aside from illustration, the medium that he is most prolific in, he has tried his hand in photography, printmaking, and collage. Despite dabbling in various art forms, his work presents a cohesive image that plays around with the idea of space and time. Japanese themes and images are also often present in his work.
He draws heavily from personal experiences and everyday life. His series of illustrations, “From Walking Around Legazpi Village” (2023), are images of plants and architectural details that caught his attention during his strolls in the area. He also produced a zine, “Funabori” (2020), which is a collection of photos that documented his daily experiences as a traveler in Japan.
Being a young artist, he has yet to find a more distinct identity for his work. His eagerness to try various mediums shows his determination to widen his practice. He has an eye for details that the everyday individual tends to overlook. The technical aspect and conceptual depth of his work are clear signs of promise to flourish in his craft.
Stage 1
Study Work & Work-in-Progress (WIP) Analysis
The artist translates their written concept from Stage 0 into a tangible form and provides a brief artist statement elucidating the work. This stage functions as a research or study phase, focusing on the execution and development of both the form and content of their concept.
---
The art critic examines the transitional phases of an artist's production, exploring how the artwork and the artist's practice evolve during the creative process.
---
Stage 1 Artwork
House of Preserved Moments / Study 1
RD Daniel
Pencil and charcoal on paper
11" x 15" unframed
Artist Statement:
In this artwork I wanted to explore themes on sentimentality, nostalgia, and being frozen in a certain moment of time. Thinking of those, I chose pressed flowers as my main element for this study. I think they represent those said themes, being left and pressed to be frozen in time. With that in mind, I depicted these flowers in the simple and rigid form of a house, a form associated with home — the simplest form that houses the smallest unit of the society.
--------------------------------
Stage 1 Text
Work-in-Progress (WIP) Analysis of
Written by Paige Espiritu
“House of Preserved Moments / Study 1” is RD Daniel’s first artwork for Confluence. He creates an illustration of a gabled roof house with pressed flowers on its surface. This is a study for a three-dimensional work that he plans to produce for the project.
From technique to material, Daniel is particular with every detail of the work. His knowledge of perspective is evident in his construction of lines and depiction of light and shadow. His process always begins with a sketch, that is why opted to create an illustration as his first artwork for the project. He chose to portray the form of a house to communicate a relatable and uncomplicated idea. The shape itself conjures feelings of nostalgia as it is a universal signifier of a home. The dried flowers allude to the idea of freezing time since they are still used ornamentally even after their bloom.
The artwork’s concept of longing for a time gone by fits well within Daniel’s body of work that explores the same idea of time. Most of his works, particularly this piece, is inspired by the Japanese concept of Mono no Aware, which is the awareness of all things in life being ephemeral. He also uses spaces or structures as his visual language. The execution of the work as an image of a structure is consistent with that.
Looking at the artwork elicits a quiet nostalgia towards the feeling of home. The chosen signifiers being a house and flowers clearly represent the two ideas of familiarity and transience. The piece is a precursor to works that will explore these same concepts on a larger scale for the project. Executing this idea as a three-dimensional work will be a challenge for the artist since he has only created flat images, but at the same time speaks of his eagerness in exploring the bounds of his ideas and craft.
Stage 2
Study Execution & Review of Related Works or Literature
Study Execution & Review of Related Works or Literature
The artist will refine the artwork based on insights gained during Stage 1 deliberation and production. Their partner will offer relevant literature or artwork to support the enhancement of both the form and content of the piece.
The art critic persists in examining the artist's creative process and decision-making. Moreover, they seek out relevant literature or artwork that can enhance the development of their counterpart's work.
Stage 2 Artwork
House of Preserved Memories / Study 2
RD Daniel
Dried flowers on wood panel base
20 x 20 x 17.5 cm / 45 x 28.5cm (base)
Artist Statement:
House of Preserved Memories is a visual representation of time slowed down to a halt, to take a moment to appreciate the beauty in time’s passing. Dried flowers, the main material for this work, symbolizes moments and memories itself, seemingly frozen in its state. Them being dried implies that at some point these flowers were also at the peak of their beauty, lush and brimming with life. Yet now, even if time has worked its charm on these flowers, there is still beauty to be appreciated in them. Its form, a simple gable roof, is the simplest shape that can be associated to a house — a fundamental form of architecture where people dwell, rest, and store their belongings. The form symbolizes two things: one being the house is a starting point where most core memories of people are made, and two as an actual structure to house those memories.
House of Preserved Memories draws attention to the beauty and appreciation to the passing of things, as well as the gentle characteristic of the sadness that that fact evokes.
--------------------------------
Stage 2 Text
Work-in-Progress (WIP) Analysis with Review of Related Work or Literature of House of Preserved Memories / Study 2
Written by Paige Espiritu
Flowers signify two things - beauty and transience. This is the main material RD Daniel chose to use for his mixed media work, House of Preserved Memories / Study 2. A mixture of Baby’s Breath and Misty Whites were pressed between books and other household objects. He then mounted these flowers on a wooden board and trimmed it to form a shape of a house with a gabled roof. The flowers stand on its base but rise and bend in varying directions, forming an imperfect house shape. Its form is reminiscent of an overgrown house devoured by foliage over time. Home is a basic unit of society that is why the artist used the shape of a typical house to communicate a simple and relatable form that will elicit sentimentality and nostalgia from viewers. The architect Hasegawa Go writes, “If you asked a child to make a picture of a house, many of them, regardless of the country, would probably draw a square wall with a triangular roof on top.”
Stemming from his vacations spent in Japan growing up, Daniel’s works are influenced by Japanese aesthetics. In Donald Richie’s Tractate on Japanese Aesthetics, he states, “Here Japanese arts and crafts imitated the means of nature rather than its results. One of these means was simplicity”. Works of Japanese art often depict nature and value the aesthetic of simplicity. He adds, “The elegance of simplicity-beauty to be found in the texture and grain of wood and stone, in visible architectural structure, also in the precise stroke of the inked brush, the perfect judo throw, the rightness of the placing of a single flower”.
Daniel’s body of work has a quiet simplicity that combines spaces or structures with botanical elements. An example of this is his illustration series From Walking Around Legazpi Village, which captures details of building facades and plants he saw during his walks in the area. Meanwhile, for this specific artwork, he deliberately chose Baby’s Breath and Misty Whites, flowers often used as fillers in bouquets, to highlight its simple elegance.
Richie also writes, “Traditional Japanese aesthetics still lacks a definition. There were, however, plenty of terms in Japanese”. One of these terms is mono no aware, which is the main influence of this artwork. The meaning of mono no aware is “the pathos of things” or the awareness of the transience of nature. Works that are inspired by mono no aware are usually narrative in nature such as novels, poetry, and films. A classic example is Murasaki Shikibu’s novel The Tale of Genji, wherein the characters elicit a keen appreciation for the ephemeral beauty of nature. In 2013, Suntory Museum of Art mounted “Mono no Aware” and "Japanese Beauty", an exhibition featuring paintings, scrolls, and other objects that are grounded in this aesthetic.
Inspired by the concept of mono no aware, the artwork exudes a melancholic beauty. It speaks of the idea of ephemerality and nostalgia, evident in the chosen material, which are flowers. The shape of a house evokes feelings of home and familiarity, reminding viewers of their own distant fond memory during their formative years. Richie explains the concept of “aware” as a reaction of “resigned melancholy or awe, or even measured and accepting pleasure”. This is where the artist deviates from the traditional sense of the concept, by attempting to freeze time by preserving the flowers instead of allowing it to yield to nature’s course. It’s as if he tries to stop time to allow the flowers to retain their beauty and function. His attempt lets viewers experience mono no aware themselves, because despite his efforts, these flowers will still eventually decay. Viewers will admire the beauty of the artwork with the knowledge that it will not stand against eternity.
Each step in Daniel’s creative process is done with purpose. From the choice of material, form of the artwork to the mere spacing of the flowers, these are done with a clear knowledge of his concept. His chosen visual language of a structure reflects his architectural background. The execution of his idea is akin to models that architects create prior to implementing projects. He took into consideration the kind of structure he would use to communicate his idea and decided on the stereotypical shape of a house as the simplest signifier of home. Hasegawa also noted in his essay on “The House Shape”, “It is a shape that is etched in our minds.” Bringing to life his vision for the artwork was no easy feat since he was dealing with a very delicate material. It was a constant process of trial and error. Despite working with an unfamiliar medium, he was intent on executing his vision, a reflection of his dedication to his craft.
As an artist, Daniel has deep awareness of his environment which is an invaluable quality. He notices the beauty of mundane things in everyday life, such as a thin and unassuming flower in a bouquet amidst other vibrant ones. These experiences with the world around him are then translated into his artworks that exhibit a quiet and contemplative beauty. This reflects the depth of how Japanese aesthetics influenced how he sees the world – appreciating the beauty of nature in its simplicity.
References:
Richie, Donald. A Tractate on Japanese Aesthetics. Stone Bridge Press, Inc., 1 July 2007.
““Mono No Aware” and Japanese Beauty | Exhibitions | Suntory Museum of Art.” SUNTORY, www.suntory.com/sma/exhibition/2013_2/index.html.
Parkes, Graham, and Adam Loughnane. “Japanese Aesthetics (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy).” Stanford.edu, 2018, plato.stanford.edu/entries/japanese-aesthetics/.
Hasegawa, Go. Thinking, Making Architecture, Living: Contemporary Architect’s Concept Series #11. Lixil. 23 Dec 2011.
Stage 3
Context
The artist progresses from Stage 0 to Stage 2 with a deliberate focus on the context of their work. During this phase, they are encouraged to challenge the possibilities of their work, exploring new potential in material, medium, or form.
---
The art critic touches into the broader context of the artist's work, exploring how external factors such as cultural, social, political, and historical influences shape the creation and interpretation of the piece. By examining the artist's environment, personal experiences, and the prevailing ideologies of the time, the critic uncovers deeper layers of meaning within the artwork. This analysis allows for a more comprehensive understanding of how the artist's intentions and the artwork’s reception are intertwined with the world around it, ultimately providing richer insights into its significance.
---
Stage 3 Artwork
Study 03
RD Daniel
Pencil and Charcoal on Paper
20.8” x 30” / 10.4”x15” each
Artist Statement:
Study 03 mainly explores defining what specific personal context I want to show with my final work. After considering the works from the previous stages, I realized that both works lacked specific personal context. What memories was I trying to preserve in the last artwork, and was there actual preservation? Artwork 03 serves as a timeline identifying spaces and places with a personal connection to me, which will also serve as a guiding element for the final stage’s work. These spaces mainly represent different points in my life, each panel symbolizing two years of my lifetime. These illustrations were hand drawn from memory, as an inquiry to how much detail I remember about these places; as such, some panels were left out for the years where I cannot quickly remember anything of significance.
--------------------------------
Stage 3 Text
Work-in-Progress (WIP) Analysis with Contextual Analysis of Study 03
Written by Paige Espiritu
Four pieces of paper are folded and divided into four panels each. Different illustrations of places and spaces fill different panels, while others remain blank. Some images are in color while others are monochromatic.
For his third artwork for Confluence entitled Study 03, RD Daniel offers a glimpse into the places that he resided in at various stages of his life. Each panel represents two years in his life. The images have a hazy quality, as the artist attempts to remember moments in his past. All drawn from memory, some panels remain blank since he has no recollection of the places he lived in during those years. As the images progress, it becomes more vivid, showing how he remembers more the years closer to the present. The last two panels are also blank since he has not reached the age above 28.
Examining these panels, one would notice the different colors present in each one. Daniel uses color to convey memories he associates with these spaces. The black image of a ditch near his home shows how vaguely he remembers this at the age of three to four. The stairs drawn in red is a memory of him falling off it in a bloody accident at the age of five or six. The latest illustrated panel captures the different shades of green of his first house plants, showing a peaceful view of his shelf in recent years.
In relation to his previous artworks for Confluence, his approach in this piece is personal and autobiographical. His first artwork, House of Preserved Moments/ Study 1, being a precursor for the next work, gave a vague glimpse of the concept of nostalgia. For his second artwork, House of Preserved Memories/ Study 2, he meant to evoke personal nostalgia within its viewers using signifiers such as the shape of a house and the use of preserved flowers. For this piece, he now talks of his own personal nostalgia.
Nostalgia is a human experience. It is defined as “sentimentality towards the past” or “yearning for a time gone by”. In her journal article, Remember When…: A Consideration of the Concept of Nostalgia, Janelle Wilson wrote, “The term nostalgia typically conjures up images of a previous time when life was “good”.
The term nostalgia was coined in late seventeenth century Switzerland to refer to a severe feeling of homesickness. At first, it was regarded as a mental condition with symptoms such as melancholy, insomnia, anorexia, weakness, anxiety, lack of breath, and palpitations of the heart. Today, it is considered a natural emotion.
As an emotion, nostalgia is a strong motivator for human behavior. Wilson wrote how humans experience it:
“Feeling nostalgia, expressing and experiencing nostalgia – this requires active reconstruction of the past – active selection of what to remember and how to remember it.”
She also described nostalgia as “a type of autobiographical memory…” (qtd. Mills and Coleman 205). Because of this, many artists have attempted to immortalize their memories into works of art. Though they all have the same goal of preserving these memories through their art, they construct or deconstruct it in their own style.
One of these artists is Japanese printmaker Tetsuya Noda, who approaches his practice in an autobiographical way. In the 1960s, he began a series of works that carried the word “Diary” in its title followed by the date the image was photographed. These works are vignettes of everyday life that elicit nostalgia. His subjects are intimate moments with his family, urban landscapes, mundane objects, and scenes he encountered in his daily life. He captures an image in his camera, alters it, and transfers it on paper using a silk screen. In 2016, Noda’s works were exhibited in Ayala Museum with the exhibition title, Diary of Tetsuya Noda. Senior Curator Ditas Samson describes his process in the exhibition’s introduction:
“The artist has referred to the camera as his sketchbook. The camera records scenes objectively in photographs. Noda selects the photographed scene or object, manipulates, and retouches it with a pencil and a brush to capture a personal frame of mind that reveals his sensitivities and particular memories.”
Another artist who uses memories as an important element in his work is Fernando Zobel. In his correspondence with his life-long assistant in Cuenca, Spain, Rafael Perez-Madero, he writes:
“Memory selects and organizes. It seems to whisper: “THIS is worthwhile,” and I try to listen. It isn’t all as easy as it sounds. But when I recognize the results in my work I feel very pleased.”
His La Vista series, which translates to “the view” in English, is based on the view from his window in Cuenca. He translates these memories by removing the elements he finds insignificant such as trees, houses, and animals. Then, he eliminates color and simplifies it to a monochromatic image. What appears on canvas is an abstract representation of what he wants to focus on in the view, such as the slope of the cliff. He explains how he claims ownership of this view and how his interpretation becomes a dialogue with his audience:
“In other words, nothing is left but MY view, the one that exists in my memory. And here comes the strangest part. If I succeed in giving shape to my memory I find that I have also given shape to the memory of the spectator. It becomes HIS view as well as mine. I’m not sure that I really know how it works, but these pictures seem to draw something from the spectator’s own memory and resources.”
Like Noda and Zobel, Daniel’s work is inspired by his personal experiences. Similarly, he translates these memories, not as facsimiles of how it occurred, but a reconstructed image of how he would like to remember it. He describes his work as “capturing the ambience and subtleties in a moment and in a space”. As an architect, spaces and structures are his visual language. People remember things in their own way, either through music, food, scents, or anything that will trigger their memory. For him, spaces and structures are the way he remembers moments in his past.
According to Wilson, when a person returns to a place they are nostalgic for, the person and the place are not the same as in their memory. This is because time has changed both person and place. The process of creation for the piece is very intimate since it involved recalling memories from the artist’s past. Thus, it was best expressed in illustration, the medium he is most at home with. Akin to a map, the artwork was folded and shows different places. Instead of it leading to a certain place, it leads viewers to having a rough sense of who the artist is. The images were glimpses of memories that he valued enough to remember. This artwork answered the question posed to him: What are you nostalgic for?
References:
Wilson, Janelle L. “‘REMEMBER WHEN...’ a Consideration of the Concept of Nostalgia.” ETC.: A Review of General Semantics, vol. 56, no. 3, Sept. 1999, p. 296.
Mills, Marie A., and Peter G. Coleman. “Nostalgic Memories in Dementia—A Case Study.” the International Journal of Aging and Human Development/International Journal of Aging & Human Development, vol. 38, no. 3, Apr. 1994, pp. 203–19.
The Diary of Tetsuya Noda: Steven Co Collection. Ayala Foundation Inc., 2016.
Landscape Into Painting: Fernando Zóbel, Serie Blanca. Vibal Foundation, Inc. and Ayala Foundation, Inc., 2023.
Stage 4
Synthesis
The artist, at the final stage of production, must make critical decisions that encapsulate their entire creative journey. This stage is not just about completion, but about reflection—drawing insights from the process that led up to this point. Every experiment, adjustment, and challenge faced in earlier stages influences the choices made now. By looking back on the evolution of their work, the artist ensures that the final piece not only stands as a finished product but also embodies the intentions, revisions, and learnings from the creative process. It becomes a culmination of both vision and experience.
---
The art critic engages in a reflective process, examining the developmental stages of the artist's work, including its conceptual evolution and creative process, within the context of the Confluence project. By analyzing the dialogues, critiques, and interactions that have shaped the work, the critic produces a comprehensive synthesis that captures both the essence of the artist's practice and the collaborative journey. This synthesis not only highlights the formal and thematic aspects of the artist's work but also delves into the deeper layers of meaning and intent, offering an insightful narrative that bridges the artist's creative vision with critical interpretation. Through this process, the critic contextualizes the work within the broader framework of contemporary art, while simultaneously foregrounding the unique contributions of the artist and the collaborative dynamics fostered by Confluence.
---
Stage 4 Artwork
Remembering Houses - 01
RD Daniel
Dried flowers on Plywood Base
18”x18” base, 14” height
Artist Statement:
[Remembering Houses - 01] dials in a specific time of my life — when we had a house in Tokyo. I think there is some merit to remembering these moments or times in my life. This house no longer belongs to us; my parents moved back to the Philippines a few years ago. For me, this remembering feels like trying to recall a dream right after waking up from it. Inspired by nostalgia, I felt like this sculpture is an attempt at remembering these spaces I used to dwell in and simultaneously accepting the fact that some details will inevitably be forgotten.Recalling my previous works in Confluence, I went from vague ideas to defining and contextualizing my work to mapping out my whole life in one artwork, to simplifying everything and focusing on just one moment. I think this also better reflects my character as an artist, drawing inspiration on the fleeting moments of everyday life, things that feel very mono no aware.
Artist’s Reflection on the Confluence Journey:
I went in circles with this work, from ideas of preserving memories, relating house shapes to my work, defining my inspirations like mono no aware, to recalling personal memories — but at the end of it all, to put everything simply, all I chose to do was to try to remember a house we used to live in. Back in its early phase, Stage 0 was a vague idea, an outline of my inspirations and influences, with the plan of executing it by creating visual interpretations in the form of illustration, and that’s exactly what I came up with for Stage 1, House of Preserved Moments / Study 1, an illustration of a silhouette of a house-shaped by dried flowers.
During my earlier talks with my partner Paige, we discussed how I am open to trying to use a different medium for Confluence, something out of my comfort zone. From that, and expounding on the initial ideas of Stage 1, I created my work House of Preserved Memories / Study 2 — a sculptural presentation of its predecessor. It was aesthetically pleasing, and I was happy with how I executed the work. However, after discussions with my partner and breaking down the core idea of the work, I felt like it was not saying anything. It was all fluff, as this work does not actually preserve any memories. The discussions and deliberations with the whole group were quite helpful, as during this time, I could better define a core inspiration with the body of my works, which was the concept of mono no aware. I discussed and understood more of this concept with the help of my partner.
After the discussions and deliberations, I created Study 3, a visual mapping of personal memories. During this time, I was trying to contextualize my work, even if it meant abandoning for now the whole creative direction I was developing from the previous ones. It felt like this work was the proper Stage 1, a better presentation and mapping of what I’m trying to do and what I am trying to convey as an artist here in Confluence. It also served as another checkpoint for me to deliberate about what I was trying to do here.
So for Artwork 04, I created [Remembering (?) - working title], another sculpture reminiscent of my work for Stage 2. Study 3 was a timeline of sorts, recalling from the present day to my earliest memories, while Artwork 04 dials in a specific time of my life — when we had a house in Tokyo. Did I live my whole life in this house? Not really. I think I stayed here for around three months at most. Were there any life-changing events that happened during my stay here? Nothing that I can think of. If anything, it was all about my fascination with the fact that we had a house outside of our home country at some point in my life, not an apartment or a condominium unit, but an actual single detached dwelling. I liked my little walks during those times and waking up to lazy mornings with no responsibilities. Recalling my previous works in Confluence, I went from vague ideas to defining and contextualizing my work to the point of mapping out my whole life in one artwork, to simplifying everything and focusing on just one moment. I think this also better reflects my character and, as an artist, just drawing inspiration on the fleeting moments of everyday life, things that feel very mono no aware to me.
I think there is some merit to remembering these moments or times in my life. This house no longer belongs to us; my parents moved back to the Philippines a few years ago. For me, this remembering feels like trying to recall a dream right after waking up from it.
--------
Art Critic’s Reflection on the Confluence Journey:
Prior to joining Confluence, I had little experience writing for art. My practice in art mostly involved administrative tasks for individual artists, galleries, and museums. What I enjoy most about working in visual art is collaborating with artists and discussing their practice with them. Having these discussions gives me a better understanding of the context of their work and inspires an appreciation for who they were as artists. Being able to write about it was a cathartic experience, because I was able to articulate the thoughts I had about art that were oftentimes merely confined to my mind.
In separate conversations with artists and curators, I enjoyed talking about the artistic process. One of the discussions I always go back to is talking about process as part of art, it’s not just the final output that is considered art. The idea that the process of creation being art adds depth to a work and makes the process more meaningful. This idea was validated in my experience in Confluence.
Working with my partner, RD was a learning experience. I was able to know more about his practice as an artist and an architect and how he approached both. I was able to have a better appreciation for how structures were made. Understanding his process and the context of his work was also very interesting for me. His process clearly reflects his background in architecture, as his works exhibit a knowledge of perspective. He turns his mundane encounters into quiet and contemplative vignettes. This reminded me to appreciate my daily experiences and to closely look at my surroundings, not just see.
--------------------------------
Stage 4 Text
Synthesis of Remembering Houses - 01
Written by Paige Espiritu
Place and Time: Exploring Nostalgia through Spaces and Structures
People create memories in spaces they occupy. If the memory was a blissful experience, any remembrance of that space evokes a yearning to relive it. They are nostalgic for a time gone by. Nostalgia is a longing for a time and place that might be subjective (Wilson 302). In RD Daniel’s works for Confluence, he explores the concept of nostalgia using spaces and structures.
Nostalgia is categorized as a type of autobiographical memory (Mills and Coleman 205). The subject of Daniel’s work is often autobiographical, inspired by mundane encounters in his daily life. Having a background in architecture, his visual narrative is spaces and structures. He relates his experiences by depicting the spaces that he once occupied or the structures that he came across.
In this project, his sequence of works alternates between illustration and sculptures resembling house models–another reflection of his architectural background. Creating plans and studies for his works is a vital step in his process. He is very meticulous with material and details, each step is done with precision.
If a child is asked to create an image of a house, regardless of their country, they would most likely draw a square wall with a triangular roof on top (Go 107). The first two artworks Daniel created depicted the shape of a typical house with a gabled roof to evoke a nostalgia for the warmth of a home. For his first work, he created an illustration of a house overgrown with flowers. This served as a study for the following work, which was a sculpture of a house, created using pressed flowers.
The last two works focused on a personal context. His third work is a diptych illustrating the interior and exterior spaces he inhabited throughout his life–an exploration of his personal nostalgia. It led him to create his final work which is another sculpture of a house using fresh flowers–modeled after the house in Tokyo that his family previously owned.
Daniel’s multiple trips to Japan inspired a fascination for the culture and aesthetics of the country. His work is influenced by mono no aware, a concept of Japanese aesthetics. Mono no aware is a modern variant of the term aware–applied to aspects of nature, or art, that “move a susceptible individual to an awareness of the ephemeral beauty of a world in which change is the only constant” (Richie 52). It is anticipating nostalgia for an experience yet to finish. Oftentimes, it is associated with nature, such as the temporal beauty of a flower in bloom.
Inspired by mono no aware, he uses flowers as his primary material for his sculptures. In his first sculpture, made with pressed flowers, he slightly deviated from the idea of mono no aware by attempting to preserve the flowers. However, for his second sculpture, he used fresh flowers of the same floral variety, but allowed nature to take its course. Each day, the flowers slowly wither, deteriorating throughout the exhibition. Viewers of this sculpture would have their own experience of mono no aware as they admire the piece, knowing that the artwork will fall into decay.
For this project, Daniel’s exploration of the theme of nostalgia began as a general idea of this emotion. Eventually, it led him to ask himself: what was he nostalgic for? His process in creating the last two works was very personal, as he attempted to recall vivid images of the spaces and structures he occupied. He describes the act of creation as a way for him to preserve the memories in his mind–as if not creating it would lead him to forget it. It is also his way of sharing his personal narrative to his audience, before the memory withers like the flowers in his sculpture.
References:
Wilson, Janelle L. “‘REMEMBER WHEN...’ a Consideration of the Concept of Nostalgia.” ETC.: A Review of General Semantics, vol. 56, no. 3, Sept. 1999, p. 296.
Mills, Marie A., and Peter G. Coleman. “Nostalgic Memories in Dementia—A Case Study.” the International Journal of Aging and Human Development/International Journal of Aging & Human Development, vol. 38, no. 3, Apr. 1994, pp. 203–19.
Hasegawa, Go. Thinking, Making Architecture, Living: Contemporary Architect’s Concept Series #11. Lixil. 23 Dec 2011.
Richie, Donald. A Tractate on Japanese Aesthetics. Stone Bridge Press, Inc., 1 July 2007.