ARTIST AT WORK: Herbert Pajarito creates miracles in his masterpiece
Inside his 30-square meter studio, Herbert Pajarito’s favorite item is the Bible—God’s novel on how in the beginning, when He created the world, He was always in the details—up to the very last days of our lives. This, perhaps, served as his inspiration in putting together his sixth solo exhibition “Divine Presence” at Galerie Francesca.
His 20 colorful works display various symbols, in small intricate features, that he meticulously and tirelessly worked on for hours. Using pen and ink on paper, Pajarito created a bird’s eye view of angels and the cosmos, layered within images of nature.
“Divine Presence is about angels, nature, and the presence of God. Unlike my previous exhibits where I use acrylic, here I used the medium where I am most comfortable with, which is pen and ink. Most of my subjects are nature and angels. Nature represents hope, and I am the kind of person who never loses hope. And the angels are the messengers and warriors who defend us from evil. They send messages to and from God. As an artist, I would also want to be His messenger in every artwork that I create,” says Pajarito who was the 2013 Metrobank Grand Prize Winner.
His “Guardian Angel” series, which features 14 works on paper, includes Guardian Angels XLI, a 4 x 6 feet artwork that he worked on for 16 to 18 hours every day for four months—proving that creating a masterpiece takes time. The series is filled with angelic beings interlocked with each other with plants, flowers, butterflies, and stars behind them.
His 48 x 72 inch Radiant, one of the biggest pieces in this exhibit, seems to show mankind’s journey together with all the other living creatures, as the planet transforms.
His other series “Sky Guardian,” on the other hand, are five works featuring angels filling the night sky, set on the cosmos and the stars. Aptly named Saviour, Ambrosial, Celestial, Deific, and Seraphic, his works are a testament to how God can turn mourning and sorrow into dancing and joy, even in the darkest of times.
Pajarito’s 20-piece collection is more than just about artworks. Once you look at them, each painting speaks volumes about hope, which is something we all need right now—to have hope that, in God’s perfect time, tomorrow everything will be okay as long as we trust in Him.
“The central message of my artworks is hope. It is about reminding people that God is always present and that He will always be the light to guide us amid the crisis that we are facing right now,” he explains.
You may still view Herbert Fajarito’s exhibit on www.bit.ly/divinepresence.