An up and coming local artist, Dominick Pilapil, is slowly stretching the boundaries between our reality and his. Part of the Piguras Art Group in Davao City, Dom, along with other members, advocate towards the re-influencing of the great masters of the Renaissance.
“Our goal is to support the continuing rise of figurative art in the local art scene through proper and traditional ways of learning the craft. The classical style of art is, in our opinion, the highest standard in terms of producing works and is still unparalleled until today—so much so that people compare every other style of art to it,” explained the young artist. Figurative paintings involve the powerfully dramatic and emotional manipulation of representational art that usually involves animals and especially people. This is not an easy road of practice to take, but of course it can be learned, just as Dominick wasn’t born a good illustrator—according to him, his first inspiration was his own artist father that made Dom decide to enter a Bachelor of Fine Arts program in college. “I was experimenting with watercolors when I graduated from high school, it made me feel frustrated because I couldn’t seem to portray on paper what I wanted to achieve in my mind. That is why I was drawn to primarily work with oils,” Dom thinking back. Despite this, he was part of the semi finalists for the 2011 Metrobank exhibition in the watercolor category and has been part of a handful of significant art exhibitions both abroad and locally.
Although the young artist is still unable to personally label his art style and is still discovering his inner trademark, I am biased in loving his artistic subjects because they are mostly of the feline variety. His paintings of cats in a somewhat surreal application, that also tinkers in the world of magic realism, is the kind of achievement that I have been wanting to see in my own artworks—but of course, how would that ever happen if I do not paint everyday for six to eight hours like Dom does! “I almost exclusively paint classical figures, portraits and cats—they are my favorite, because cats are like people to me, even better! And I was kind of a stubborn kid and was a frequent visitor of the guidance counselor and the principal’s office, maybe that’s why I love to put anomalies and glitches in some of my works. I believe that I’m part of the “free to be you and me” generation,” Dom playfully states.
Dominick’s works simply reflect his character at the time he is painting the canvas and has no given formula. The works speak for themselves and the artist couldn’t care less what the audience might have to say about them, therefore, he leaves them to come up with their own creative assumptions. “Being an artist made me grow more patient and laid back, but still, I am having a hard time relating and grasping my own spirituality. Nevertheless, I am sticking to my credo of being a freethinker and to just continue making a living through what I love,” Dom states. His artistic future is so full of possibilities and more wonderful weirdness given his talent and technique! Who knows, he might even develop his own coined style someday: “Magic Surrealism”—that can dominate any artistic reality.
