A peek trough the looking glass

Talented and celebrated artist Katrina Cuenca recently held a solo exhibition entitled “Through the Looking Glass.” Held at ArtistSpace in Ayala Museum in Makati City and organized by Pintô Art Museum, the exhibition showcased the artist’s deep interest not only in describing the world, but in creating an alternate magical realm to it, in which the color combinations beguile the eye, the resplendent forms provide access to quiet and contemplation, and the simplicity of her painterly gestures unlock the deepest corners of the imagination. For the artist, much of what she explores in her art-making concerns not so much the specificity of the materials of the art object but the viewer’s perception of it. Through this interface, the work becomes a communal vessel through which the vision of the artist and the observation of the viewer meet. “If there’s anything I want to give people,” Cuenca states, “it’s a semblance of tranquility.”