Tasked to re-discover spaces of shared experiences and recognize as companions those that are frequently encountered in a medium of art, four promising young artists of Ateneo de Davao were featured in an art exhibit entitled “Ating Katabi: of faces and shared spaces”.

Works of Kent Coquilla of BS Finance, Reese Gustilo of BS Nursing, Amir Liwa Jabido of IDS Language and Lit, and Jewel Mansia of AB English were featured, ranging from photography, watercolor, pen and ink, and calligraphy, respectively.

Welcoming students, staff, and guests during the opening program at 11/F Community Center of the First Companions, Vice President for Quality Assurance Suzette D. Aliño highlighted the importance of personal relationships in the overall wellbeing and happiness of teenagers.

“If you are looking for happiness, spend more time with people, and less time with your phone. With that, I’d like to say, it means katabi,” Aliño said.

Gustilo described how he found inspiration in the familiar places that people often pass by unnoticed, like ‘The Tunnel’, a watercolor painting depiction of the pathway outside the Law Building.

“It’s not that hard to find inspiration considering our theme was ‘katabi’ which was the local areas, so there’s so much going on here. A lot of things that people pass by… that are so familiar that it becomes unnoticeable. All I wanted to do was to take those things that are so familiar and make them noticeable,” Gustilo told Atenews.

He also described his process of creating watercolor painting, which involved the technical and conceptual sides.

“I take a picture that I like, I sketch it, then I ink it, then I paint it. That’s pretty much the technical side of it. All the conceptual stuff is done prior to taking the photo.

The inspiration… all of that happens before I take the photo. And once I’ve taken the photo, I’ve already decided I’ll make this painting. I already know what I’ll be doing. It’s just a matter of executing the technical aspects of the painting,” he emphasized.