The 26 Angling Figures: a study on Arvin Magbutay's sketches

It might have been apt to call his first solo painting exhibit “Quintessential” but Arvin Magbutay is bent to prove to everyone his works can surpass the stereotypical success of an artist. When asked why his show was named such, Magbutay muses for a second, looks at you straight in the eyes, and tells you “because quintessence means the most basic and ideal. That, for me, is the meat of my art.” The manifestation of this answer lies beyond Magbutay’s surrealist-inspired works and what better way to examine the artist’s purest and most random thoughts than through his sketches.

The Wellspring of It All

Before paint is applied on the canvas, the artist decants the visceral ideas in his mind to a sketch pad through delineated figures. Surrealist painter Sam Haile calls this instinctive flow of ideas as the Dimension K. Thus, Haile recounts in retrospect with his own paintings:

“The dimension k is intended to express a special mode of existence . . . the intrinsic value of the rendering is directly proportional to the strength of this factor, or to the profundity of extension in dimentsion k.”

Thus, a work of art is a representation of the artist’s own ideals and it becomes a vehicle to express his passion in recreating life the way he sees it or evoking emotions the way he perceives it.

In days that Magbutay drops his paintbrush and pencil, he picks up his books on Kahlil Gibran and he ponders on the texts, and when time again is due, that inspiration to paint or sketch comes to him, he pours out his heart on blank papers. Perhaps it is automatism or other forms of randomness but unknown to Magbutay, the ideas he has been reading about, the precursor to his artistic drives, have steeped into his works. So composite are the eclectic forms (suggestive of the surrealist influence) that it fuses the contraindicating elements into a single aesthetic experience. The result: rich strokes that challenge the whiteness of the paper to transcend the crudest of emotions, the unadulterated concepts, to the metaphysical.

The Fisherman of Dreams

Or better yet, the dreams of becoming a fisherman. In one of the interviews with Magbutay, the 23- year-old painter discloses his desires of becoming a fisherman. With his good educational background (Magbutay graduated from Cebu’s prestigious schools), surely Magbutay dreams of being successful and not just being a penniless fisher folk. However, he sees achievement in a different light. The realizations of his goals in life are not measured in monetary (he cares least of his proceeds during his art exhibits) and other material wealth, but rather, he sees success as the heightened state where he becomes the erudite of visual aesthetics and the truth-seeker.

True enough to his words, Magbutay’s sketch pad reveals 26 figures (among many other forms and silhouettes), sometimes standing or sometimes sitting down, each bearing hook, line, and rod. Utterly dream-like in appearance, Magbutay’s drawing of these calm faceless figures dangling on the edge of dysfunctional buildings or flights of stairs reminds his audience that these are spitting images of our shadows fishing for serenity amid the hustle and bustle of the material world.

Other recurring images in Magbutay’s leitmotif are long winding staircases leading up buildings and then leading down again in a topsy turvy manner. And as always, atop these, are lone figures hanging loosely and provocatively, ready to fall off at a nudge. This is Magbutay’s representation of how success that is anchored on wealth is just a tipping point towards doom.

The other sketches are juxtaposed representations of this and that done in murky black ink. Many are recognizable in the real world, like the domestic scenes of teddy bears and apples with worms, while some also border the dreamscape, such as the removed patch of land tilted to the side and grotesque fictional characters.

Seeing Not with the Eyes

When two contradicted elements come together, as in Magbutay’s illustration of gravity-defying of figures perched on winding stairs, the effect is stimulating to the senses. But at first glance the figures seem distant and foolish but as one grows more aware of the drawing (or painting), each fragment suddenly falls into place – its parts seem to belong together.

Amid the heavy strokes and baffling forms, it’s easy to lose one’s self while looking at Magbutay’s works. The estranged viewer suddenly feels perplexed. Could there be a way to reach to the bottom of Magbutay’s thoughts and ideals without losing your way out? Yes, there is as long as you close your physical eyes and opens the window to your soul, and find that the very thing of value or the emotion that resurfaces is the key to understanding Magbutay’s messages. His themes thrive on the adversities of being human. It is beautiful at the same time it is melancholic. And it makes you whole again.