Revamped likha.tumblr.com, now updating it to feature Filipino artists and their creative process. Go follow it! :)

likha:

As I am in love with printmaking, I had to feature a printmaker as the first artist for likha. I met Ambie three years ago, in my quest to find a printshop here in the Philippines. The best thing I remember about our first encounter was her comment on my decision to come back home to the motherland. She was one of the few who agreed with the decision, saying that here in the Philippines, “maslapat ang paa mo sa lupa.” So very true.

Thank you, Ambie, for graciously agreeing to be featured on likha. Dear followers, stay tuned for more Filipino artists and their creative process. Enjoy! -jo anne

1. What inspires you to create?

It is hard to say exactly or specifically what inspires me.  I know for one thing that there is a certain ‘desire to respond to a calling’ (of sort) which precedes the act of creating.  A desire to react to my reality – experience of my past and present environment, people and events, my thoughts, memories,  observations, even illusions and questions that which hold some significance to my personal life, what I believe in and what  I value.   Such desire, I believe is something implanted in us by some greater power because we do not choose to desire – we just do.  It is a gift.  And so is the freedom to respond and how to respond to such desire.

 

2. How do you go about creating your work? (Routines, a schedule, rituals, etc.)

For me, the process of creating commences the moment I react in my thoughts to that desire to respond to my present consciousness.  A dialogue takes place in my head and I take pleasure in allowing images to play and develop in my mind – the many possibilities of how to transform or translate my experience or reaction to (my experience), into an actual tangible image.  This process sometimes takes a long time before I actually start working.  Time is relative.  Major projects that would make up for an entire solo exhibition would take longer to conceptualize.  Occasionally, I study the trend of works that I have done previously and I take the role of the viewer.  In a sense, I react to my own works.  Sometimes, while in the process of working on a single piece some ideas come to mind which I pursue later.  Other times I simply get motivated to put up an entire show as a reaction to a single idea.  I have a few which are still in the thinking process.  Some already for a couple of years.  I observe that the process of conceptualizing takes about 90 percent of total time of the creative process, the 10 percent for executing the work.   Although, execution can take weeks to finish one work depending on the process, materials and size.  Also, while working on it, the work can still evolve towards a more effective image and I adjust to it.  I like very much exploring the possibilities in the creative process.  It can be very engaging and fun!

When it comes to rituals, (though I am not the most organized person), my work space and surroundings must be clean and without clutter.  I start with cleaning and putting order in my work space, and preparing all materials, making sure everything I need is within reach (otherwise the lack of a single material can break my momentum).  There should also be very good  lighting and ventilation and no irritating sound (television, distracting music…I usually listen to select classical music, or my favorite artists, depending on my mood…other times I just need complete silence.)  I also enjoy more when working at nights and I also appreciate when it is raining outside.

When preparing for a solo exhibition, I like studying the space.  I take time to feel the space.  I have become very conscious of space because it affects one’s experience. And I believe that art is an experience and that everything that surrounds the viewer will affect that experience.  I like the challenge of putting my work in context in its entirety.   In a way, the challenge of transforming the space, bringing the audience to a remote reality.  

If I may add, for me as an artist:  “Art is an experience.  The creative process is art itself.  The tangible output of that process which we often times call art (artwork) is an ‘incidental necessity’ of the artist’s experience of art.  Incidental as it is the product of such experience and necessity as it is the only way by which the artist is able to relate his experience of art to the viewer and the extent by which the viewer can experience art”.

 

3. What are your essential tools for creating?

When you say ‘tools’ for creating, I consider all the resources necessary to complete a work.  This includes time, space, actual objects, resource to purchase/seek such objects, people who can help in providing solutions for the execution, labor, etc.  - all of which need to be wisely used.

The materials actually depend on the needs for a particular work.  As a printmaker, actual tools depend on the technique I am doing.  I do a lot of woodcuts and I like working on big sizes (the biggest I have done is 4 x 5 feet but I would be excited to go as big as 9 x 9 feet!  In the future perhaps… For other wall bound hybrid works, I have done 6 x 6 feet works. ) I use ordinary carving tools (very sharp) and available wood (mostly Tanguile or recycled wood).  For etching, I use zinc plate.  Intaglio prints need the etching press while relief prints need only my pair of hands to print.  I am very particular with the paper I use.  Again it depends on the technique I use.  The materials for other works like prints in installation really depend on the concept.  Anything can be a material for art.  Any object can be transformed and used to give new meaning to it. 

Time and space is also very important to consider when creating.  A work at some point needs to be completed.  When there is an invitation to an exhibition, time has to be considered.  It is like an empty box with limited space.  You have to make sure that the project you are working on is workable  within the given time without compromising your indented purpose.   Space on the other hand like I said is part and parcel in the experience – I have to know where it will be exhibited.  If a work is exhibited in another space, then it should also respond to the new space.  It becomes a new work in a way, giving the audience a different way of experiencing it.

When and where your intended ‘tools’ and resources are not available, one has to be innovative – our surroundings are rich in resources we can use to pursue the need to create.  We just have to open our eyes and look beyond appearances!

A few of her works:

Dalangin, installation, Indonesia.

Facial Quadrant, woodcut.

First Impressions, installation work at CCP 2010.

Pananaghoy, installation of woodcut.

And, finally, Ambie Abaño at work:

*All photos are from the artist.

*Articles on Ambie that you may want to read:

- Ambie Abaño: A love affair with prints, Manila Bulletin

- Letters from Paris, Philippine Daily Inquirer