1984 / Acrylic on canvas / 121.9 x 121.9 cm / Artist: Augusto Albor / Private collection

Albor’s painting career in abstraction is characterized by a consistent pursuit of a balance between the physicality of nature’s prism of colors and the metaphysicality of man’s perception of this. Although there are no recognizable representations in such canvases, Albor has often alluded to the color and light of the Bicol landscape of his youth as haunting inspiration for his abstract lyricism.

In Kuwadro No. 22, the artist brushed several layers of underpainting in various colors: black, brown, vermillion, and purple in broad strokes and whiplashes. Nuances of light and dark, and effects of receding and advancing of flatness and shimmer are efficaciously played upon. Lines projected from the ends of the canvas intersect at the center. These were drawn in graphite. Layers of whitewash were then applied to achieve an effect of gossamer transparency. The contrast of raw free form and stern, minimal geometricism encompass the elemental contradiction between nature and technology.