Walking on a dream

“Pag tinamaan ka ng alon, dumidilim ang iyong daigdig. Mauubusan ka ng hininga. Kailangan mong huminahon upang ika’y mabuhay. Kalma…kalma, ikaw ay lulutang muli,” says notable and celebrated potter Pablo K. Capati III. Translated, “When a wave hits you, your world goes dark. You run out of breath. You need to calm down to survive. Calm down… calm down, you will float again.”

His biggest and recent month-long exhibition at Art Informal Gallery, Karrivin Plaza, was a compelling showcase aptly called Lutang, with a major installation of 74 pieces of banga, suspended from a bamboo structure, using nylon strings.

The strings are virtually invisible make the stoneware banga pieces seem like they are floating and swaying in mid-air. Suggestively, this immersive experience invited the audience to walk amidst the pieces and leaving you to surrender to your imagination. Surrounding this installation were two major wood-fired clay works, two stoneware pieces with cobalt ash glaze, and four Ikebana banga works.

Artists, patrons, tastemakers and the like dropped by and the well-attended event. The gallery echoed the tranquil night sound of the potter’s studio in San Jose, Batangas — channeling the music of night birds and insects, ready to lull you to dreamland. We all need that pause, break, chill or rest — to recharge and reset. To move forward in life and make our dreams a reality.