Esmeraldo Abalde

2019 Invited International Artist

Esmeraldo Abalde is a self-taught artist born in Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines. His love for art started when he was a child watching his mother draw on a little piece of paper. “I was attached to my mother and was very much stunned by her drawings so I started imitating her trying to attempt to draw like she did.” In his younger days, Esmeraldo worked with artists at a public school where he was studying and learned the art of holding a brush and the basic colors. After years of college as a Business major, he decided to follow his dreams and take art seriously. Today, Esmeraldo strives to continue learning and exploring the different ways he can improve as an artist. “I love creating a variety of subjects from representational to abstract, to express my deeper appreciation of the beauty around me.”

Solo Exhibitions
2019 JUN- "URBAN SCENES" SM Downtown Premeir, Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines. 
2018 NOV - "INNER SPACE" - Capitol University Medical Center, Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines.
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Selected Group Exhibitions
2019 NOV - The Great Gulfcoast Arts Festival 2019, Pensacola, Florida. 
2019 OCT - From Manila to Dhaka, Unity in Diversity: An Art Exposition, NCCA Gallery, Intramuros, Manila.  
2019 JUN - 6x6x2019, Rochester Contemporary Art Center, Rochester, New York.
2019 APR - International Artist Grand Prize Competition. Shortlisted artist. Art Revolution Taipei, Taiwan.
2019 FEB - "Drawings", The VIP Hotel, Cagayan de Oro City, Mindanao, Philippines
2018 SEPT - 18th Asian Art Biennale Bangladesh, National Art Gallery, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
2017 OCT - SILINGAN SINI International Visual Art Festival, Ateneo de Zamboanga University, Zamboanga City, Philippines.
2016 AUG - "CHANGE" - Fr. Francisco Demetrio SJ Art Gallery, Xavier University, Cagayan de Oro City.
2015 AUG -"SIDLAK" - Limketkai Luxe Hotel, Limketkai, Cagayan de Oro City.

Awards
2018 MAY - 1st Place Winner, ART SAFARI Visual Arts Competition (Group Competition), SM City, Cagayan de Oro City.
2018 FEB - LAMBAGO Art Award, National Commission for Culture and the Arts & Xavier Center for Culture and the Arts.

Membership
CdeO Arts Guild.

Artist Statement

My talent is a gift that God has given to me. I am truly blessed to have the skills to create a representation of myself as an artist, painter, observer, or dreamer whatever you call it. My art is an outlet to express my vision and communicating with the viewers. My drive to create how I feel about everything around me comes from my personal experience, imagination, and feelings that I want to share with others. For me, art has no boundaries. I'm always drawn to capture the temperature of colors, shadows, atmosphere, and lights of elements that surround me. However, I seek the essence of every subject I paint, whether it is abstract or representational. My passion for painting is a challenge that fuels my creative energy every day and leaves me happy at the end of the day. Being an artist, I always aim to show my keen interest in enriching and uphold my community in some way through my art. For example, I painted Astounding Place because of the people who work so hard to make it a better place for the future. I hope it brings inspiration and a sense of pride that we are all part of the success. I find inspiration in the color and richness of the culture of indigenous people and other traditional ways of life, of people and their day to day living facing hardship and struggle. My own family worked hard and were met with severe difficulties but stayed strong. I'm fascinated by landscapes because I love to be in beautiful surroundings. I love to capture the refreshing local waterfalls, rivers, movement, and reflection on the water's surface or anything else I find in nature. I also draw inspiration for my cityscapes, figurative, and landscape paintings from places I have visited. I like to think that my contribution is imparting a permanent impact on those around me and making them discover beauty through my art. However, I could not possibly achieve these goals without the support of my family and friends. The process of creating my paintings is exciting, using bold and vibrant colors on my brush or palette knife, gives me a unique perspective. I'm always open to any possibilities to learn new techniques in combining other materials to push myself beyond. Some of the pieces I've painted from photographs however, I don't merely paint what I see with my eyes. I can use a variety of mediums for my art, but I exclusively work with oils now because it allows me to paint and rework on the stretched canvas or panel.