With his first solo show now open at Gallery C in Conrad Manila, L'Officiel speaks with artist Kristian Somera about his artistic journey, creative process, and more.

PHOTOGRAPHY Belg Belgica

Kristian Somera is here to challenge your perception of chaos and beauty. The Metro Manila-based abstract artist has been making waves with his deeply personal and emotionally charged works. His unique approach to art brings a fresh perspective to abstract expressionism. Here, the artist speaks to&nbsp;L'Officiel about his artistic journey, the emotional depth of his creative process, and what we can expect from him next.

When did you become aware of the need for your artistic expression?
For as long as I can remember. I would dabble in anything that provided any form of creative outlet. My mom always tells me that as a kid I would draw things and write stories about them. Just like any creative, it&rsquo;s as though I&rsquo;m genetically wired to release pent-up energy through creating.&nbsp;
How do you bring a painting from start to finish?
A blank canvas intimidates me most of the time so I usually try to clear my head first by meditating and letting go of expected results. When I reach that sweet spot of feeling steady and inspired, I pick up a brush and let impulse take the reins. I let intuitive mark-making move me from one layer to the next. It&rsquo;s like a stimulating dance or dialogue that I have with my canvases; I do one thing and it responds; it&rsquo;s a continuous back and forth that ends when the piece is finished. My pieces usually have 10 layers minimum with some even going as far as 20 layers. I never stop until the painting feels right. It&rsquo;s a strange instinct I&rsquo;ve developed, the origin of which remains a mystery to me.&nbsp;
What do you want to achieve with your pieces? Is there an emotion that you want people to feel when they look at your work?
It&rsquo;s natural for visual artists to have an end goal and to be able to effectively convey whatever they want to convey through their paintings&mdash;I&rsquo;ve never been like that. The process for me holds more value than the result. The only &ldquo;achievement&rdquo; I crave is that nice feeling I get after creating something I&rsquo;m truly pleased with. No two people ever feel the same exact way when looking at a piece so it would be naive of me to try to control how my spectators perceive my work. Whether they resonate with it or they hate it is none of my business, I feel.&nbsp;

Who are some of your early artistic influences and how do they compare to people that influence you now?
Like any other child (and because they were taught in school) I used to look up to Renaissance artists like Caravaggio, Michelangelo, Da Vinci, etc but as I got older and as my mind became more abstract, the works of abstract expressionists particularly color field painters like Motherwell, Rothko, and Frankenthaler resonated with me more because I find that they&rsquo;re more intuitive therefore highly spiritual and rooted in deeper emotions; emotions that I doubt I can successfully express through representational art like how other great artists do.&nbsp;
How has your work evolved?
In terms of materiality, I think I&rsquo;m more open now to experimenting. I used to only work with acrylics, now the media I use ranges from saltwater to marble powder to natural pigments from different parts of the world. Composition and palette-wise, I don&rsquo;t really think it&rsquo;s evolved much because it&rsquo;s still distinctly me but I&rsquo;d like to think my pieces are more nuanced now compared to when I was starting.&nbsp;

&nbsp;Does scale intimidate you?
In the beginning, yes. The biggest one I&rsquo;ve ever worked on was a 12 by 12 foot canvas. That&rsquo;s too big a piece for a new artist like me. If I let myself get too caught up in planning and controlling the outcome, that&rsquo;s when it gets daunting. But once I get my hands busy and actually immerse myself in the process and not the result, that&rsquo;s when it becomes fun and fulfilling. The secret sauce to my art practice (and to how I live my life) is to just let go of any expectations, enjoy the process, and trust that if I put in enough work, favorable results are just inevitable.
Do you like presenting your work? Is it something that is natural for you?
Definitely not. I&rsquo;m generally a very shy person. When I went to see my first group exhibit during the pandemic, I didn&rsquo;t even introduce myself to the people. I just wandered around in a face mask like a little weirdo in the gallery. In a way it kind of feels like being naked and vulnerable in front of strangers; sharing something that&rsquo;s deeply personal. That can be difficult for a lot of people. I&rsquo;m slowly working on it though especially after mounting my first solo where I had to talk to everyone.&nbsp;
Do you feel as though your paintings are a reflection of who you are? Or just the world around you?
I think the former but in a deeper sense. In a way, I like thinking of my paintings as my Horcruxes. They&rsquo;re little fragments of my soul, and that even when I pass, a part of me will always live on for as long as that painting exists.

Is it ever difficult to make things that are so personal to you and then go on to share that with the world? Do you ever just make work that's explicitly for you?
It&rsquo;s always been difficult for me to share my work with people, whether it be my paintings, my writings even the silly little films I made back in university. But every time I get a response from friends or even strangers telling me how much they resonated with something I created, it always gives me a warm feeling that makes me want to create more and forge more connections. No matter how uncomfortable I feel putting my soul on display, at the end of the day I&rsquo;m still human, and human beings just naturally crave connection whether we admit it or not.&nbsp;
What can we look forward to seeing from you in 2024?
My exhibition will run until mid-October and I plan on taking a break for the rest of the year&mdash;maybe squeeze in a little bit of research for a project I&rsquo;m looking forward to executing. Right now, I&rsquo;m really just craving new experiences that I can share through my future exhibitions. Next year I have a few shows lined up hopefully internationally once I iron out the logistics.
Whispers From the Otherworld is on view until October 19 at Gallery C in Conrad Manila in Pasay, Manila.

LOCATION&nbsp;Espacio Creativo Escolta

Diving Deep Into Kristian Somera’s Abstract Realm

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