FREDERICK EPISTOLA

Visual Artist

Frederick Epistola is a painter, collage artist, sculptor, and documentary filmmaker. In 2006, the International Museum of Collage, Assemblage, and Construction in Texas, USA collected two of his works. His mixed media piece "Master without a Disciple" was included in Painters for Human Rights' 2008 Limited Edition Art Calendar. He was the only Filipino artist who participated in the NASA's FluxFace in Space Art Program, which featured 127 artists from 26 countries. In 2019, he was awarded the Cultural Diplomacy Grant by the National Commission on Cultures and the Arts-Sentro Rizal and was the first Filipino to hold a solo exhibition at DOHA Qatar’s KATARA Art Center (August 2019).

“A good piece of art is inspired by your inner self and guided by the unknown”

- FREDERICK EPISTOLA

I explore my own identity and core values through my artworks using colors, strokes, and evocative images. I meant for each artwork to be a non-narrative celebration of my culture, while at the same time a documentation of my society’s enrichment through time.

Drawing inspiration from the political, artistic, and social milieu of my time, and grounded by my experience, my artworks hold mirror to the continuously evolving culture of my surroundings that is formed through relationships, associations, and metaphor.

Each mixed media artwork features different layers of pure hues in the background that represent my cultural and societal memory and the creative juxtaposition of my real-world observations through time. The multiple layers of strokes and colors are integrated with cut-out images to add depth, mystery, and memory to the central theme of each piece.

My artworks explore the themes of identity, ethnicity, colonialism, and the affirmation of my native race, language, and culture; with each of the piece representing a celebration of culture and my beginnings.

Always interested in the interplay of art and life, my works maintain their open-endedness to allow the viewers to engage with my art through their free and uninhibited interpretation.

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