Agnes Arellano (born 21 November 1949) is a Philippine

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

known for her

surrealistic Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...

sculptural groupings.

Career

A family tragedy that occurred in 1981 determined the course of her career and the major themes in her art. Her parents, her sister Citas and a housemaid were killed in a fire that razed the Arellanos’

ancestral home An ancestral home is the place of origin of one's extended family, particularly the home owned and preserved by the same family for several generations. The term can refer to an individual house or estate, or to a broader geographic area such as a ...

San Juan, Metro Manila San Juan, officially the City of San Juan ( fil, Lungsod ng San Juan), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 126,347 people. It is geographica ...

. Arellano received news of the fire while she was on holiday in Spain. In memory of her late parents and sister, she decided to set up the

nonprofit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

Pinaglabanan Galleries on the site of the ancestral home. Many unusual Philippine and foreign artworks were to be exhibited there, and talented artists were also given

subsidies A subsidy or government incentive is a form of financial aid or support extended to an economic sector (business, or individual) generally with the aim of promoting economic and social policy. Although commonly extended from the government, the ter ...

. Arellano commemorated the tragic death of her parents and sister 7 years later with a

multimedia Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms such as text, audio, images, animations, or video into a single interactive presentation, in contrast to tradition ...

event called ''Fire and Death—A Labyrinth of Ritual Art''. She created a unique

installation Installation may refer to: * Installation (computer programs) * Installation, work of installation art * Installation, military base * Installation, into an office, especially a religious (Installation (Christianity) Installation is a Christian li ...

consisting of a

labyrinth In Greek mythology, the Labyrinth (, ) was an elaborate, confusing structure designed and built by the legendary artificer Daedalus for King Minos of Crete at Knossos. Its function was to hold the Minotaur, the monster eventually killed by the ...

of thematic

shrine A shrine ( la, scrinium "case or chest for books or papers"; Old French: ''escrin'' "box or case") is a sacred or holy sacred space, space dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor worship, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, Daemon (mythology), daem ...

s in the Arellano garden, combining sculptures,

poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...

, photographs,

sound sculptures Sound art is an artistic activity in which sound is utilized as a primary Artistic medium, medium or material. Like many genres of contemporary art, sound art may be interdisciplinary in nature, or be used in Cross-genre, hybrid forms. According t ...

, plants, and family

memorabilia A souvenir (), memento, keepsake, or token of remembrance is an object a person acquires for the memories the owner associates with it. A souvenir can be any object that can be collected or purchased and transported home by the traveler as a m ...

. This demonstrated the deep sense of the precarious balance between death and life that she had become conscious of after the tragedy. This theme would find its way into many of her other works as well.

References

*Kintanar, Thelma B. and Ventura, Sylvia M. ''Self-Portraits: Twelve Filipina Artists Speak.'' Quezon City: ADMU Press, 1999. *Guillermo, Alice G. ''Image to Meaning.'' Quezon City: ADMU Press, 2001. Filipino sculptors 1949 births Living people Artists from Metro Manila University of the Philippines Diliman alumni Ateneo de Manila University alumni Paris-Sorbonne University alumni {{Philippines-bio-stub