Kaleidoscopic Visions

Sculpture in glass requires an acute understanding of both the medium and its interaction with light. The artist must understand how nuanced differences in source and reflection can ultimately change the visual perception of her work. There is an obvious technical component in this endeavor, and glass sculptors are, more often than not, already masters of space and volume. But it is the relationship between object and light where artistic expression can emerge.

Among glass sculptors, perhaps the most well-known is Ramon Orlina—whose mastery of the medium is beyond question. However, sculptor Marge Organo has managed to take glass sculpting in a completely unique direction. Within her angular abstract glass forms, she manages to incorporate different figurations that play with the diffused light. In this manner, light bends through each refraction and reflection in ways that almost seem impossible. How she manages to achieve this effect in her practice speaks to a measured method that betrays a highly intellectual approach to art.

What is even more amazing is the fact that the artist is, in fact, quite new in the art scene. Having semi-retired from a career in the pharmaceutical industry, Organo – already a mother of four adult children – decided to take her nascent passion in art and forge a solo career in the art scene. Starting with the rudiments of painting by taking formal lessons in 2014, she moved on to sculpture by pursuing studies in glass sculpture at the Studio of the Corning Museum of Glass in New York. In New York, she learned coldworking and glass lamination under the tutelage of Czech artists, among the world’s most renowned masters of glass. Taking various techniques from different fields – including tile mosaic and construction, she honed her technique to the point of mastery before returning to the Philippines, where receptive critics were quick to hail her practice.

After several one-woman exhibitions in Makati, Organo will be making her first major debut in this year’s ManilART at SMX in SM Aura at the Galerie Raphael Booth B1, from Thursday, 12 to Sunday, 15 October 2017.

When asked about her new works for Manilart, she simply says that it’s something she’s never shown before. Not one to be complacent, Marge has applied and was accepted, after two years, at The Glassmaking School in Kamenicky Senov in the Czech Republic and will be attending school in the summer of next year. She is the first Filipino to be accepted in this school. Here, she will further hone her skills and learn new techniques in the oldest glassmaking school of its kind in Europe and in the world.

Galerie Raphael is located at Unit 429/4, Level 4, Main Wing Shangri-La Plaza Mall, EDSA cor. Shaw Blvd. Mandaluyong City, Philippines, and at 2/F The Shops at Serendra, McKinley Parkway, Bonifacio Global City Taguig. For info, contact +632 856 3034 or +632 941 6194.

In examining Organo’s works, it is necessary to step back and consider the one-of-a-kind nested concept of her works. Similar to Russian matryoshka dolls, Organo nests abstract glass figures within larger glass forms. Sandwiched between solid glass, these nested figurations are often colored, to bring out a vivid contrast against its staid holding form. Most representative of this aesthetic is “United we Stand,” which encases colored glass panels in a pillar of clear glass. While other glass artists are content in coloring the forms during the kiln process, Organo nests individual colored panels. The result is an intricate and delicate sculpture that reveals the technical artistry of its creator.

An emerging powerhouse in Philippine contemporary art, if only because of the absolute distinctiveness of her practice, Organo is poised to position herself as Orlina’s successor in glass sculpture.