Jeff Salon: Lost Stars

BY JAY BAUTISTA |

Ask any child these days on how to make and simply fly a kite chances are you would meet a long blank stare. The most you can probably solicit is a mere shrug at the thought. And if you are luckier he or she would google at your curious query at a later bored time.

In Buradol (Bicolano for kites) Jeff Salon reprises even deeper to his most favored of themes in childhood--the lost joy of flying kites. Capturing almost ten years of his early life navigating the starched strings of this bamboo-formed airborne plane wrapped with plastic, roaming freely the unadulterated skies at the open fields behind their house in Camarines Sur.

Alapaap. Oil on Canvas, 5x4ft

Early on, as soon as he would wake up, without fail one would find Salon either making a kite or flying one. As the wind gushes towards his face, he feels he is on top or even one with the clouds. Evident in Alapaap one assumes immortality as a kite. Looking up to the big sky one is grateful for the gift of redemption as he appreciates the heavens--exaltation to the most high. As one flies his kite, like a true artist one cannot help but notice the floating characters how God had manually curated the skies, it was here that Salon observed that there are no same clouds as they form our favorite animals, flowers or even the faces of our loved ones.

De Kahon is part of the Buradol Series

Typical to Salon is how he multiplies his messages in a series of artworks, representing the happiness of kite flying in ten parts, in this case assembled in small-boxed pieces. Done in his usual earth tones of brown and gray, Buradol series does more to paints as Salon even expanded them in three-dimensional pieces using actual wood and nylon string depicting his images on them.

Being aerodynamic by nature, kites usually take the shape of anthropomorphic forms like fish (the gills have their purpose in flight), bats, birds or even water buffaloes. Oftentimes they are airplanes where a pointed front controls its direction and the tail navigates the wind from below. In fact in kite parlance, he who holds the strings is a pilot while the co-pilot is the one who releases it while walking backwards.

Reflected in Buradol series kite-flying levels off whatever class or gender there are in youth groups. Salon’s friends have gone far and away from the fields and from where they fly are now patches of a larger subdivision. In these trying times, it uplifting that Salon’s images of children are built on sterner stuff. They are tough yet meek at heart and competitive when flying side by side but they can help repair a kite once he sees a kid badly needing assistance.

In these scenes, Jeffrey also pays tribute to his father who is not only a great teacher but a fine carpenter who taught him how to handle the saw and hammer a nail and build whatever his mind sets him to create or recreate.

With figures predominantly in almost ash gray tones, with the strings in hand, by looking at these works Salon allows you to escape time or better yet he simulates you in his time. These were the moments Salon and his friend dreamed their dreams. They learned life by making kites, how one should not sacrifice quality of materials just because it is cheap or available. The better the bamboo the more protective the spine as more weight will pull you down. The pointer of the kite is most important as it directs the flight, like being focus on where you want to go. One could say he learned the rudiments of his being artist through by mixing art and science of kite flying as well.

Buradol sa Uran. Mixed Media, 2014

Capturing every ethereal emotion Buradol sa Uran rekindles fond memories of Salon growing up in his hometown in the province. Starting with a frame in the form of a house, the kite shaped canvas features other activities he enjoyed as a child like idling on top of water buffaloes. He compliments the use of metallic colors like gold and silver mixed with primary hues like red and yellow. Typical to Salon is his clouds that places you in between a dreamy state or a foggy situation either which way he hopes one can get out of it. His clouds blend to the rustic primary finish he adopts as base–a semblance of decay with a promise of escape or epiphany, Salon is most effective in conceptualizing this.   

Tanaw. Mixed media, 5x4ft. 2014

As December ushers the start of amihan, bringing coolness in the breeze, Salon recalls they would even extend up until the wee hours of the morning come yuletide season. Tanaw reverses the perspective and assigns the viewer as if one is being/feeling feted as a kite himself. As one surges upward, one notices how we are caught in the quagmire from below–from the larger picture of how largely polluted our oceans are or how densely populated our desperate metropolis to how families have been divided not material poverty but of the spirit. Despite having the freedom from above one opts to be spared from gory and even gruesome setting we may not see but be witnesses to. Although Tanaw is a self-portrait, Salon opts to cover his vision in the presence of inevitable bi-polar negative and positive vibes. There is always the silver lining (as his primary canvas) where the rainbow celebrates the brightness of a new tomorrow.

The Challenger. Oil on Canvas, 8x5 ft. 2014

The brilliance of Salon is how he conceals his intents and purposes to his creative devices appointing his viewer the subliminal connotations to his meanings. The rendering in The Challenger is apt for a children’s book however see how his unified kites confront death as it explodes in an almost cinematic progression beaming a skull from behind. The allegory in the redness of flight/fight against what constitute progress wasted on the young—ideals against technology etc.

Like the kite one can only be swayed or even find its way out of this mess, based on how it wants to intensify and command on the available air to guide him. By flash movement in the overlapping kite flyers, war and its ugly head has been a recurring presence in Salon’s works he remains positive as the child overcomes the adult in Salon. Notice how Salon abhors stillness by incorporating cartoons to subvert the brutality of it all. Only Salon can paint children is softer but fierce in stance. 

The late Steve Jobs did not allow his children when they were young to use computers at home. The inventor and Apple co-founder believed that the best way for them to learn the rudiments was to be with nature and play outdoors. With gadgets kids these days are losing their motor skills, or just being in touch with the earth. Even with the recurring theme of combat and violence, Salon’s realism may not be as political as social but they imbibe empathy by examining your senses to a maximum reality. 

As a visual artist, Salon has always kept his ear to the ground in being considered the last generation who learned to play in the streets. Those were summer spent without ipods, Cartoon Network, Twitter and Facebook but he was pleased as unraveled in these latest works. His only worry that these paintings don’t end up as instructional materials in a dusty museum in a not so distant time.

Buradol is the 3rd Solo Exhibition of Jeff Salon. It is ongoing at the Nineveh Artspace in Sta. Cruz, Laguna as part of its 11th anniversary celebrations.

Selfies by Jeff Salon

| Jay Bautista

A theme very close to his heart since he started holding up his brushes, Jeff Salon takes up the cause of children not more than fifteen years old, comprising more than forty percent of our population, those who have been either neglected at home, sexually abused, victims of armed conflict, deeply involved in gangs in schools. Focusing on their welfare, done in his unique realist hues, these sordid portraits comprise Salon’s first solo exhibition whimsically entitled Nice and Naughty.

Hazard Ground, 2013. Oil and Acrylic on Canvas, 60 x 48 inches.

Evoking obvious intensity, everyone knows the story behind Hazard Ground however we seem too hard to admit. Unable to flee the countryside marred by war, the young boy is forced by circumstance to mature and be actively involved in the propagation of its futility of violence. Depending on its root causes, be it political, racial or religious, hatred has already gone deep through generations – his grandfather died for it, his father invited him to it, then the boy, out of his familial obligation takes up the cudgels – all in the name of payback revenge. Grim as grime, Salon whose fondness for texture, purposely riddled the canvas by bullets unable to control the anguish and despair that has befallen the once innocent boy. Signifying his own life’s loss, as the prime of his youth is being stolen from him, a glaring infra-red is aimed at him with his generation -- as the targeted victims like the previous generation before them. Close to 50,000 children are displaced in armed conflict every year, one reason why Salon has also advocated the total banning of firearms as toys. No one can tell the difference. However Salon insists that hope still looms as a subliminal peace sign hovers emphatically on the picture.

Chasing Boundaries, 2103. Oil on Canvas, 79 x 72 inches.

Fourth among a brood of seven, Salon had public school teachers for his parents. Thus stressing in them the value for hard work and education, however Salon’s hometown is too small for the competitive spirit in him. Growing up in Calabanga, Camarines Sur, a daily ritual for Salon happens every late afternoon. Like clockwork, he would go up their rusty roof and stare at the big sky and patiently wait for the sun to set. Considering more like God affirming His signature at the end of the day He has created, Salon is so amazed as that there was never the same sunset ever since. Even astronomers have scientifically studied this phenomenon time and again. Not until the stars are in full bloom and out for their nightly performance will Salon come down for supper.

Chasing Boundaries is a product of this contemplative daily routine during dusk. Probably the most personal piece in this collection as Salon always had big bold dreams of making it in the city. Always the optimist, life’s aspirations come in the form of this hopeful child whose hands clasp in anticipation. This autobiographical piece captured many of his wishes in the list of life worth depicting: the need for speed in being a motocross rider, adventurer who perennially roams around town either heading by the beach after class or to visit an old artist and listens to his philosophy in life and art. 

Notice his fondness for boats be it the old galleon ship or the simple paper one, Salon longs to see other worlds that someday he knows he will conquer. Related to this longing for travel are the constant birds in flight etched as textures on his paint’s surface. Aesthetically this graphic handle represents his quest for freedom for his art and for his country. Part of his creative tableaus are his shooting or falling stars that gently remind him of his dreams and how far he has gone from that roof while looking up to them.

Children are anything but children these days and Salon has been visual in narrating their dismal tales some kept stubbornly silent to themselves. One of Salon’s pet peeve is someone who oppresses fellows even at their young age. Untamed reports of a disturbed kid who secretly bullies other kids. This bully will eventually will be the next thug to become a menace to the society. In showing his defiance, this bullied kid, with all the hurt being inflicted in him words and in his ripening body, gathers strength to lash out his tongue out claiming this as his own small victory. Translation: you may have hurt me but my spirit is intact. Featured turning his back against the viewer, Salon traces this bully’s values may have been corrupted by the current context of his society – the videos he imbibed in himself, the save-the-earth films his father watches in the only television at home. Salon even believes that unconsciously the parents become the bully’s first bullies as they themselves call him names at home or display the attitude of the very physical violence that hurt them to hurt others. Coating it as a sign of love, unknown to parents tolerating this kind of dysfunctional behavior in them would be more harmful in the future. Sometimes reciprocating their negligence in the guise for just being playful or “because they are kids, let them be.”

Little Swan, 2013. Oil and Acrylic on Canvas, 24 x 16 inches.

Little Swan seeks to capture a young girl’s imagination beyond her Barbie dolls and teen celebrity idols. As one’s childhood is such a short season, it is fleeting enough for a girl without ambitions. Like a woman without children, could it be the promise of contemporary of the internet or some future perfection in the digital games suppress it? 
 

Salon is old school, believing in the power of painting as a loaded two-dimensional piece being bound for the wall. Not only for their practicality, accessibility and maximizing space, its single view focus still works, drawing up attention that remains effective and habitual no matter how fast the modern times can be. A master in composition, a monochrome rendition of the characters that make up his image, he emphatically draws up the main selfie of the child in sharp and not stark in likeness. Rendering it in layered yet playful appearance.  

Similar to the one in Beyond Vision, where the bigger profile covers his face with his hands, signaling the viewer that we should not tolerate wrong doings by adults. Just because children are small and naïve doesn’t mean they are not smarter than us.

Television has become the post modern baby sitter as Nice and Naughty series deals with the influences like media and how there is a dire need for alternative education that would help children adapt to change. It would seem biological that no child is capable of speech until he has heard of other human beings speak, or even formed a language without the help of communication from his family. Thus these three paintings address how children’s perception is being influenced by current practice by music, family dynamics and current surroundings. It was revealed in a study that watching television for children there is no delineation from the main shows and the advertisements in between them. Everything is one long uninterrupted viewing. The regular noontime show could be extended with a laundry soap commercial. Hence a ten-year old may realize that laundry is vital component for say, national development, so are the other fast food chains, loaning in banks, and even Kris Aquino’s shampoo.

Beyond Vision, 2013. Oil and Acrylic on Canvas, 60 x 36 inches.

Ironically, seeing the depth of these portrayals, Salon hopes that by viewing his works one is reminded of one’s happy childhood whenever they may be. That these children are not our children as Kahlil Gibran has said, “but of life’s constant longing for itself.” 

Nice and Naughty is Jeff Salon’s ongoing first solo exhibition as part of the tenth anniversary celebration of Nineveh Artspace in Sta. Cruz, Laguna.