![]() |
Alapaap. Oil on Canvas, 5x4ft |
Early on, as soon as he would wake up, without fail one would find Salon either making a kite or flying one. As the wind gushes towards his face, he feels he is on top or even one with the clouds. Evident in Alapaap one assumes immortality as a kite. Looking up to the big sky one is grateful for the gift of redemption as he appreciates the heavens–exaltation to the most high. As one flies his kite, like a true artist one cannot help but notice the floating characters how God had manually curated the skies, it was here that Salon observed that there are no same clouds as they form our favorite animals, flowers or even the faces of our loved ones.
![]() |
De Kahon is part of the Buradol Series |
With figures predominantly in almost ash gray tones, with the strings in hand, by looking at these works Salon allows you to escape time or better yet he simulates you in his time. These were the moments Salon and his friend dreamed their dreams. They learned life by making kites, how one should not sacrifice quality of materials just because it is cheap or available. The better the bamboo the more protective the spine as more weight will pull you down. The pointer of the kite is most important as it directs the flight, like being focus on where you want to go. One could say he learned the rudiments of his being artist through by mixing art and science of kite flying as well.
![]() |
Buradol sa Uran. Mixed Media, 2014 |
Capturing every ethereal emotion Buradol sa Uran rekindles fond memories of Salon growing up in his hometown in the province. Starting with a frame in the form of a house, the kite shaped canvas features other activities he enjoyed as a child like idling on top of water buffaloes. He compliments the use of metallic colors like gold and silver mixed with primary hues like red and yellow. Typical to Salon is his clouds that places you in between a dreamy state or a foggy situation either which way he hopes one can get out of it. His clouds blend to the rustic primary finish he adopts as base–a semblance of decay with a promise of escape or epiphany, Salon is most effective in conceptualizing this.
![]() |
Tanaw. Mixed media, 5x4ft. 2014 |
As December ushers the start of amihan, bringing coolness in the breeze, Salon recalls they would even extend up until the wee hours of the morning come yuletide season. Tanaw reverses the perspective and assigns the viewer as if one is being/feeling feted as a kite himself. As one surges upward, one notices how we are caught in the quagmire from below–from the larger picture of how largely polluted our oceans are or how densely populated our desperate metropolis to how families have been divided not material poverty but of the spirit. Despite having the freedom from above one opts to be spared from gory and even gruesome setting we may not see but be witnesses to. Although Tanaw is a self-portrait, Salon opts to cover his vision in the presence of inevitable bi-polar negative and positive vibes. There is always the silver lining (as his primary canvas) where the rainbow celebrates the brightness of a new tomorrow.
![]() |
The Challenger. Oil on Canvas, 8×5 ft. 2014 |
Like the kite one can only be swayed or even find its way out of this mess, based on how it wants to intensify and command on the available air to guide him. By flash movement in the overlapping kite flyers, war and its ugly head has been a recurring presence in Salon’s works he remains positive as the child overcomes the adult in Salon. Notice how Salon abhors stillness by incorporating cartoons to subvert the brutality of it all. Only Salon can paint children is softer but fierce in stance.