INSCAPES

While flowers are obvious parts of a landscape, the magic of Suzette Bernardo-Montelibano’s photos is that they reveal a whole landscape within the flower – inner scenery that normal people miss as we are easily distracted by the more obvious explosion of colors and arrangements.

Bernardo-Montelibano gets up close and personal, shooting the hidden crevices of each flower. Suddenly the horizon is not as we know it; jade petals obey a different gravity; frangipani petals dance to a flamenco beat. So many secrets are revealed to the eye that knows how to discern the inner world of flowers – these are then blown-up to be shared with us in a big way.

Bernardo-Montelibano herself is shy – almost reclusive. But those close to her will tell you she has this uncanny knack for knowing how you feel even before you articulate it. One sees this sensitivity in her handling of photographic subjects (this is her second exhibit – the previous one also being a collection of flower images up close). “Flowers speak to me” – she says of her favorite subjects. Through them she gently invites the viewer to share her most amazing spirit within.

Inscapes is a more introspective take on flora – to walk through this exhibit is to be engulfed in a multifaceted environment that would otherwise have been negligible.

INSCAPES opens on 20 February 2010 at the Avellana Art Gallery, 2680 F. B. Harrison St., Pasay City. Gallery hours are from Monday to Saturday, 10 AM – 7 PM, Tel. 8338357; avellana_gallery@yahoo.com

Exhibit will run until March 31, 2010.