Press release

Pitch-Black

In his most recent one man show, Carlos “Totong” Francisco II creates a certain state of meditation through his viewer’s eyes, a place of dreaming and imagining that only comes when our consciousness goes “pitch-black”.

In the artist’s newest anthology of works, he was able to put together skillfully a series of randomly picked subjects that were all based from his own imaginings and observations. “Totong” chose the title “pitch black” because he is literally referring to that moment when we shut our eyes as we either go to sleep or engage in a process of spontaneous daydreaming. In this stage, our consciousness is taken away from the literal, tangible world, and we are all transported to a place inspired by our own creative awareness. And it is also in this astral condition that we are somehow stuck in abstraction, because our thoughts in reality have no physical form, and are constantly changing and blurring itself as we go over our own memories and wanderings.

Quite similar with the artist’s works, which are also byproducts of his wild imagination, the figures that enter our mind are those which are vague and somehow glazed by a multiplying layer of transparencies. This inscape, which the artist was able to capture through his paintings, serve as a mirror to our own inner selves, and perhaps also to our sole symbol of peace. For closing one’s eyes is a sign of solitude or at certain times, it can also signify a prayer, which leads to faith and hope. Thus, Totong inputs the nude figures suspended in movement beneath his layers of paint, which according to him actually marks the concept of innocence of purity. And of course with this innocence, comes a promise of hope, a new beginning, for in its naked chastity we come to celebrate everyday life. This could also explain the dance-like movement of the figures, because apart from showing the dynamism of the painting in terms of technical composition, it also shows the symbol of a divine celebration, because what else could be more sacred than a dance of purity? With all the material things stripped away from its owners…nothing but pure worship and feasting.

Looking at his paintings, it’s quite noticeable that the artist has employed the usage of neutral, monochromatic colors, in order to establish a light and dark side. This in turn, completely blends in with his human forms used as base for the abstraction. The strokes are very raw and natural, which then helps produce the illusion of movement quite effortlessly. A certain level of maturation can be seen within Totong Francisco’s works, and perhaps small glints of soul-searching…which surely would, lead to new concepts and ideas in the long days to come.

WORDS BY DAVE LOCK