color our world

Colors have been used to stand for major human traits of love, purity, innocence - as well as death, destruction, and loss by artists, poets, and authors throughout the ages. 

seven & twelve color circles - 1708, attributed to Claude Boutet

These are basically similar to the original symbolism of colors, like red stands for love, yellow stands for energy, green for a new life as well as jealousy, blue for beauty, and purple for royalty.

mandala cycles

Mandalas are a beloved symbol originating long before any recorded history. The most admired and discussed symbol of divinity and art is the mandala. Like guru and yoga, it is now part of the English language and our daily life. 

At wonder | wander | world the mandala captured our imagination in our formative years - circles and cycles, center and core, community and collaboration. It has permeated our being and pervaded our lives in countless ways. We have used it as a guiding force and vital compass in decision making, planning, and application. 

coloring book art by Issa Urra

Our latest project is a mandala coloring book for kids at heart of any age. An exploration of the joys and delights we all hold within us. These mesmerizing patterns were designed to provide a serene sanctuary in which to pursue pathways into our innermost being.  

intertwined expressions

Back when we were residents of Makati in the late 80s, Ayala Museum and its adjacent aviary were our haven and sanctuary. 

Meandering through the cool airconditioned hall of the museum, immersing ourselves in their permanent collections or passing exhibits was a regular treat. 

In Microcosm at the Ayala Museum

The dioramas, library and archives took us back in time and into the future - worlds of wonder to inspire and delight us. 

moon magic

The Earth satellite, the moon, has long been the subject of all kinds of fascinating legends and myths associated with the celestial body and its cycles. 

Moonlight in Naples / Ivan Aivazovsky / 1842

For thousands of years, people have used its light to guide them in the dark - personifying the moon as a deity. It has influenced the behavior of all living things on earth including the weather, tides, people, animals, and plants. 

Audubon documentary

In a topsy turvy time wonder | wonder | world finds great comfort in watching nature documentaries. As we move from spring into summer here in the East Coast the sunshine is brilliant and the warm air is filled with birdsong.

As we cool off indoors working on our various projects or sit out in the sunshine toasting in its warmth, we are enthralled by the Audubon documentary featured on Amazon Prime.

DVD cover

It is an extensive coverage of the life of naturalist John James Audubon. Released in 2017, it is written and directed by Al Reinert. Audubon's influence on ornithology and natural history are  astounding and wonderfully narrated by Sam Eliot.

Portrait of Audubon by John Syme, 1826

John James Audubon was an artist and a naturalist of monumental achievements. His story is both surprising and dramatic. He was not born in America, yet he saw more of the North American continent than anyone alive. His alarm over the destruction of nature became his prophesy.

JMW Turner: fire and water

John Mallord William Turner is now considered a leader of the British art canon and an essential painter in Western art history, but his work startled critics and the public when he first presented it. In an age of carefully finished detail laid with invisible brushstrokes, Turner's adventurous colours and bold gestural painting shocked his audience...and would delight future generations.

The Fighting Temeraire, 1839

nurture nature

As we ease our way back outside this summer, wonder | wander | world is compelled to explore outdoors from a fresh and appreciative perspective. Even fully vaccinated, we prefer to ease our way back into what we hope is a much better world. 

We were doubly inspired by the latest works on display by famed global artist, Yayoi Kusama - now on display at the New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) from April 10th through October 31st, 2021. 

Yayoi Kusama, still from Flower Obsession (Sunflower), n.d. Courtesy of the artist.

Read the full article here: Yayoi Kusama’s Fascination with Nature Is Crucial to Understanding Her Art (artsy.net)

turning your pain into art

For the first time in wonder | wander | world, we're taking a writing class together! It was even more of an eye-opening experience than we expected, and sometimes very emotional. 

Anxiety Eggs, art by Mahala, 2017

the power of practice

Here at home as lockdown stretches out we've felt the need to stretch our minds as well. My hoard of notebooks has never been put to so much use: three pages of journaling almost every day, notes for courses and tutorials, and so much drawing!

art where you are at

Still on our art bingeing roll. . . .wonder | wander | world invites all to "Art Where You're At" - a special series of NPR. 

An informal series showcasing offerings at museums closed because of COVID-19 or at museums you may not be able to visit.

recent featured exhibits

As recently featured artist, Kyunmi Shin so aptly put it, "Art is a way for me to investigate issues of my own identity." 

What better way to get to know yourself? Surrounded by the beauty of art produced all over the world throughout the ages. 

May 2021 be better and brighter for us all! 

artists of the Arctic

The Tunirrusiangit exhibition in the Art Gallery of Ontario showed us the power of Inuit contemporary art. Now many artists have partnered with the British Museum in Arctic: Culture and Climate to show us that their vision, talent and culture thrive in today's world.

Cutting up seal, making a kayak by Lucassie Tukalak, 1985
Soapstone print

plant | as life form & life force

As fall gives way to winter and colder temperatures here in the northern hemisphere, wonder | wander | world longs for the lush green warmth our tropical bones much prefer. 

To soothe us we turn to The Botanical Mind: Art, Mysticism and The Cosmic Tree - an online project of the Camden Art Centre.

The Botanical Mind at Camden Art Centre

This new online project brings together digital commissions, podcasts, films, texts, images and audio in an expanding archive that will be updated and added to regularly over the coming weeks.

Drawing on indigenous traditions from the Amazon rainforest; alternative perspectives on Western scientific rationalism; and new thinking around plant intelligence, philosophy and cultural theory, The Botanical Mind Online investigates the significance of the plant kingdom to human life, consciousness and spirituality across cultures and through time.

a trans-generational group exhibition moved online due to COVID

It positions the plant as both a universal symbol found in almost every civilization and religion across the globe, and the most fundamental but misunderstood form of life on our planet.

Humanity’s place in the natural order is under scrutiny as never before, held in a precarious balance between visible and invisible forces: from the microscopic threat of a virus to the monumental power of climate change.

Kazakhstan art & beauty

One talented young woman's dedication to her native music and culture is admirable and inspiring. If you have no idea where Kazakhstan is - much less what their national instrument or cultural dress is - you are in for a treat. 

Marzhan Kapsamat

Marzhan Kapsamat of Nursultan, Kazakhstan, is bringing a vibrant snapshot of ancient Kazakhstan to the modern world of Instagram. 

A dombra performance by Marzhan Kapsamat

“I want to show the world our country and our instrument. My dream and goal is to film with the dombra in different countries, [w]hen I am playing the dombra, I am proud and free.”

Read more about Marzhan and her dreams in this Vogue feature. 

the hidden world of women modernists

Here at wonder | wander | world we love visiting museums of modern art. But as Filipino artists we notice that the museums present us with a stable of artists who are mostly white men, with a tiny smattering of white women. Frida Kahlo boldly waves her native colours against the whitewashed background, but there are others who were as bold and influential, but not as universally known.

Baya Mahieddine, Femmes et Oiseaux, 1975.

tiny genies: Chinese snuff bottles at the Met

In the first translation of the 1001 Nights, Aladdin and his magical genie actually came from 'a city of cities in China'. Our family's collection of snuff bottles, made of porcelain and red lacquer, seemed like just the kind of vessel that might contain a pocket-sized version of the wish-granting jinn.

Red lacquer bottle showing children at play
Metropolitan Museum of Art

artists in quarantine

Who better to bring art into your home than artists themselves? Every week, you’ll get an exclusive look inside the homes and studios—and in some cases, temporary home-studios—of artists who are, just like you, adjusting to new routines and ways of working. Together, these accounts will serve as a living archive of this moment and the ideas that persist. 

#HirshhornInsideOut

The Hirshhorn Artist Diaries captures contemporary international artists’ responses to the worldwide pandemic. We reached out to more than 100 artists and asked each to contribute their voices to an art historical record. This living archive, released as a series of short, diary-style videos, will become part of the Hirshhorn’s record of the effects of the global pandemic on artists, their art-making practices and their views of the world.

Follow and respond with #HirshhornInsideOut, an ongoing effort to share our artworks, expertise, and public programming at a time when the Museum’s campus is temporarily closed. 

quarantine diary: sketches

It's day 30 since official UK lockdown, although we actually started isolating a week earlier on the 16th of March. Since then we've had time to settle, take a deep breath (a lot of deep breaths) and begin building a new routine.

unplugging this Thanksgiving weekend

"The Mushroom Hunters" by Neil Gaiman - read by Amanda Palmer with music by Jherek Bischoff -  is a feminist poem about the dawn of science.

Amanda Palmer with her reading as the audience packs into Pioneer Works (Photograph by Amanda Palmer)

Making it the perfect choice here at wonder | wander | world this quiet Thanksgiving weekend.

Enjoy this sweet little gem and let it nourish our outlook and approach this coming holidays.

BAO: The Unbowed Carabao

wonder | wander | world feature of the week: Grilled Cheese Studios / Keso Kollektiv

In the latter part of 2018, I received a call setting me up to meet with a certain Ms. Angelica Berrie, to discuss documenting the progress of an artwork, which was to be installed at The Negros Museum.

It was a collaboration between mosaic artist Lisa de Leon-Zayco, and sculptor, Rafael Paeng Paderna. And so we met, discussed initial matters, and got the green light. We scheduled work to begin in January 2019.

#BAO at Negros Museum

Cut to January 2019.

The moment I stepped inside Paeng Paderna's studio gate in Eroreco, he was immediately in front of me.

Massive. Tall. Proud. Unbowed.

And our journey with BAO: The Unbowed Carabao began.

We filmed for 12 weeks and watched him come to life piece by little piece. It eventually dawned on us that we were witnessing the birth of an icon.

The photo in the thumbnail was taken on the day Bao was finally moved to his designated place. Everyone in this photo knew, that on this day, we all took part in contributing to a bit of cultural history, to our beloved province.

PL #brgygrilledcheese #tatakgrilledcheese #storiesthatmatter

NOTE: Not on Facebook? Find #BAO on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/baotheunbowedcarabao/. 

Marianne North | artist & adventurer

wonder | wonder | world is honored to feature another wonder | wonder | woman we greatly admire.

Marianne North in Ceylon by Julia Cameron

Marianne North (24 October 1830 – 30 August 1890) was a prolific English Victorian biologist and botanical artist known for her plant and landscape paintings, her extensive foreign travels, her writings, and her plant discoveries.

Marianne North (courtesy A McRobb/RBG Kew)