Art comes in many forms, many styles and many ideas. Here we describe the artists who have experienced a residency program at Sulu Garden.
2014
Timo Roter (January-March)
Hamburg, Germany
Timo, from Hamburg (Germany), creates abstract paintings that captivates the imagination with vibrant colors and often with a humorous view of modern life. His oil paintings have been exhibited around the world, including Los Angeles, New York, Hamburg, Manila, Thailand. His adventurous spirit even took him to Africa in the city of Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso for a unique exhibition in the desert to connect European with African artists. Miag-ao (Iloilo Province, Philippines) is Timo’s second home, having lived with friends since 1999 for 3 to 6 months each year. 2024 is Timo’s 25th year in Miag-ao.
As a venue for art and inspiration, Sulu Garden ‘s landscapes and amenities provided the ambience, peace and solitude to stimulate his vision. Kunstverein (German word that means Art Club) is Timo’s concept of bringing local and international artists to come together in Miag-ao to explore art in all different ways. . A review of this exhibition can be found HERE.
Timo’s list of exhibitions is shown HERE.
Mandurriao, Iloilo, Philippines
His first art exhibition (sculpture/painting) was at the age of 18 at the Museo Iloilo where he eventually worked for 10 years. At the Museum he learned about the evolution of paintings and art restoration techniques. Later, when chemicals in paints and materials used in painting caused allergic reactions, he switched to photography as the only art form he can do. He was commissioned by the friars of the University of San Agustin to develop the photo documentation of the Santo Nino (an image given by Queen Isabela of Spain 400 years ago as a gift to the Filipino people through the Basilica de Cebu). This resulted in the publication of the book called “Miracles of the Santo Nino”.
Norman was accepted in the Artist Residency Program to continue to refine the photo documentation techniques used in Basilica de Cebu’s Santo Nino Project. During his residency period, Norman completed the photo documentary on the Budbud Salt Farming tradition only found in the Municipality of Miag-ao (Iloilo Province). It is a more than a century old process to make sea salt using bamboo. Read more HERE about Norman’s brief description of this unique method not found anywhere else in the world. One photo from Norman’s series on the salt farmer won him the prestigious national PAGCOR 2014 Photo Contest as ‘Grand Winner’ on June 6th (shown here on the right).
Norman continues his photo documentation work on two topics: (1) Nature in Sulu Garden; and (2) The sceneries of Miag-ao.
LEFT: Norman Posecion receiving the award as PAGCOR Grand Finalist with the photo of the salt farmer of Miag-ao as background on June 6, 2014. RIGHT: Norman (second, kneeling, from the left) with other PAGCOR awardees.
Hawaii, USA
After completing his tour of duty in Afghanistan with the US Air Force,(USAF) Jason went back to school to complete his BA in Business Management and soon completing his MA. Even prior to his USAF assignment in Afghanistan, Jason already had a passion for photographing nature’s wonders while stationed in Alaska. He has taken the chance of expanding his horizons in photography soon after his return to civilian life in 2010 and won Honolulu Photographer of the Year in 2013.
Jason joins the Artist Residency Program to take his photography beyond his American perspective (Hawaii, MidWest US, and New York) to Asia and North Africa (Philippines, United Arab Emirates, Morocco). While in Sulu Garden, Jason spent two months traveling around the island of Panay, documenting wildlife and nature through his lens and travel blogs. Learn more about his passion in photography through his website: www.jasonmatias.com
In 2015, Jason became the Grand Jury Winner of the View Bug Competition with his photograph entitled ‘Cave with a View.” See the link about the ViewBug Competition
Read Jason’s travel blog about Miagao HERE.
New York, USA
At Sulu Garden Miag-ao we consider yoga as an art expressed in the form of mind and body awareness. Yoga is still relatively unknown in the Philippines, with a few practitioners found only in the major cities. We have invited Katherine to be part of this year’s Artists in Residence Program to bring awareness about yoga in the communities around Sulu Garden and to test Katherine’s abilities to teach and also absorb the uniqueness of Miag-ao. The Artists in Residence immerse themselves into the life of the villages, create artistry that is unique and returns value back to the community through their passions. Her Residency Program at Sulu Garden is broken into two phases. Phase I is immersion into the communities and introduction of yoga to the people of Miag-ao Phase II is expansion of the teaching experience and bringing yoga into the mainstream of local life.
Katherine’s Phase I program, comprising of two weeks, has been completed. She has experienced meeting the people of Miag-ao, both from upland villages and coastal fisher folks. She has learned the various local folklores and customs, food and the nuances of island living. She was able to start the yoga program with townsfolk and students of the local universities and college, completing 20 hours of teaching. Katherine has established a natural connection with the students and town folks through her teachings and knowledge of the physical capabilities through meditation and practice of yoga
We believe that she has the talent, perseverance and charisma to move onwards to Phase II in January 2015.
Belgium
Noel is Belgian but has lived in many countries in Europe. He arrived in the Philippines in 2014 and joined our Artists in Residence in Sulu Garden in 2015. Noel has created a number of miniatures that can be seen throughout the garden and continuing to create more during this residency program, several of which are shown below.
Miag-ao, Iloilo Philippines
A native of Barangay Lumangan of Miag-ao, Antonio is a master carpenter and craftsman who range of experiences include construction and renovations. Sulu Garden’s renovations require adapting to the design requirements that atypical to common construction. Although a permanent employee of Sulu Garden, Antonio’s solutions to design issues and creation of miniatures for the garden show a level of artistry unusual for a man whose life is in construction. Here are some of the range of work Antonio has done and the work continues.
