Archive for February 5th, 2009
Remembering Maningning Miclat.
Posted by roanne in Personal Moods, Poetry on February 5, 2009
It’s been more than 8 years since her death broke the news, only because it was an unconventional one. Yet, instead of talking about how she died, rather celebrate how she lived.
At a tender age, I remember being enthralled and enthused in poetry and visual arts. I got lots of people in my mind that I totally admire. Among the roster, I have few people who never fail to take my heed because of their amazing, uncanny abilities. Their gifts sprung at a very young age.
Imagine someone who could impeccably yield a brush and turn her artworks into life, or handle a plume and bring her writings into beautifully crafted pieces of literature–everything that Maningning Miclat did, despite leaving this world too soon.
Maningning Miclat , a Filipino, was a well-known trilingual poet and painter. She wrote anthologies, which were published, in English, Mandarin and Filipino. Chinese Bamboos were her favorite subject for her zen paintings. At the age of 15, she had her first art exhibit at the Cultural Center of the Philippines.
Many may have already forgotten her. Some may not even know her. But, her works perpetually live in our hearts and minds.
Here’s one of Maningning’s poems that I really love:
I want space -
a two dimensional space.
To form form and forms
that change , while my arm
sways, my hand holds the brush to play
with the glacial acrylic paints.
Forms that bring back
the balance and rhythm
of xieyi painting
where yin is left in the whiteness
of rice paper, and yang is limned
by the shades of gray and black ink.
A space for the music of painting
where white is not blank but tone
and black is the silent interval
cantata that springs forth from the air
vanishes back
and remains as brushstrokes.
To absorb a process of change
in the gesture of a fearless arm
emotion that moves and grows:
forms being formed to forget
the finiteness of beginnings.
Beside this poem
is a prayer
frozen in the acrylic paints.
Beside this poem
is a mural
- a desire for space.
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