Added Aug 3, 2006
Many have believed that the realm of abstraction, particularly the non-objective and expressionist varieties, belong to the subconscious, pertaining to the state of mind which is not fully consciouss. More so when subconsciouss permeability is applied in art, producing vague images which characterize expressionist paintings, since the the subconscious sans the full mind control still influences gestural actions. However when Sio Montera pr3esents his solo exhibit, he gave us an anti-thesis of what governs the totality of a person's thoughts and feelings. Consciousness can also perceive what cannot be normally discerned by the eyes alone. The commonly accepted thought that the expressionist painter's habit is "when you paint, don't think, you feel!" is negated by what Sio Montera is trying to say. Because he presents the other side, which is painting abstraction with careful control. This effort is shown by the sort of materials he uses, like asphalt and texturizing materials, is hard to manage compared to the usual paint. Montera's show thrives on contradiction and irony. When consciousness is supposed to result in objectivity and concrete forms, his is the opposite. Very Freudian in nature, the slip could be revealing hidden feelings. The continuous movement of circular circles in the Freudian disguise that may be interpreted as the cycle of life itself and the need to mutiply. However, traces of the Jungian method can also be seen in these cycles. When the movement is repetitively don, it means a will for contnuity without end. Here,abstraction ceases to be an intutive impulse. His non-objective artworks are reined in by intellect over intuition and instinct. And there is process involved in the art making that may be unnecessary in an expressionist work expressing emotional experience. Hence, Montera's "Consciousness" somehow consolidates the intellectual process and emotinal expression. So messrs. Freud and Jung, meet Sio Montera.