Using that privilege to change himself, SYM takes on cubism in his recent body of work. (Photo by Pinggot Zulueta)

MANILA, Philippines — Truth: The shift in expression of Master Painter Sofronio Y. Mendoza or simply ‘SYM’ has brought about a shock in the art world. People who were used to seeing the artist’s realistic and impressionistic visual repertoire of street scenes, portraits and still life as well as landscapes and vistas most probably were apprehensive of this turnabout in painterly style. Who else would give them canvases of staggering and stunning reality? Who else would they count on painting their beloved subjects? Who else would provide their discerning eyes with pictures of comfort and familiarity?

Truth be told, SYM couldn’t be any more grateful for this change, though. No longer was he engrossed in the dynamics of the basics (for, really, he has mastered each of them in his career spanning almost four decades). So, he has shifted his focus on exploring the principles of abstraction, cubism, in particular, as way of bidding farewell to the old and saying hello to the new, to what comes next.

SYM started doing abstracts in 2000. It was a conscious effort for the artist to set his sights toward another form of expression, one that he admits he wasn’t given any formal training on. It must have been a struggle for the now 78-year-old painter to break the rules of realism, seeing as it’s the one thing he has known all his life.

And yet, SYM has done so by continuous practice and studying. I particularly saw how dedicated SYM is to abstraction when I had visited his San Juan residence early last year. Notes and theories on the philosophy of cubism and detailed studies (some of which can already pass as finished artworks), as well as large oils on canvases of his abstractions are strewn in the small, modest space SYM keeps as his studio, as if his technique and gut feel aren’t enough in making his pieces work—proof that creating art is also an exact science as much as it’s also romantic in nature.

In lieu of the artist’s constant exploration of cubism, SYM has recently mounted an exhibition at the Crucible Gallery in SM Megamall, Mandaluyong City. Titled “New Vision III”, which opened last January 24, the exhibit celebrated SYM’s latest addition to his growing collection of avant-garde pieces. Central, still, to his body of work are motifs found in his realist-impressionist paintings, everyday things such as flowers, fruits and fishes broken down into crisscrossing lines and angles. They look like tablescapes boasting of multilayered planes and surfaces of deconstructed and fragmented realities.

The recurring motifs in SYM’s previous works in realism and impressionism are given a refreshing twist and a plural viewpoint in his current works. Whereas there is coherence in his older pieces, there is now a conspicuous sense of illusion in his new ones—a characteristic most commonly espoused in this Pablo Picasso- and Georges Braque-inspired art movement.

Indeed, it’s amazing to see how SYM’s works have metamorphosed and have gathered further momentum today. Sure, his realist days may be over, and we may not be able to lay our eyes upon pieces which have once brought us to familiar and memorable nooks and panoramas anytime soon. But the artist, through his latest suite of paintings, tells us that there is also comfort in strangeness, that there is good reason in change.