Riel Jaramillo Hilario
Riel Jaramillo Hilario (Philippines, b. 1976-2021) began his training as a woodcarver working with a traditional santo-maker in his hometown in Vigan, Ilocos Sur, Philippines. After graduating from the Philippines High School for the Arts, Hilario studied painting and art history at the University of the Philippines. Hilario contemporized the traditional technique from the last carver of a family of santo-carvers from Ilocos Sur. His carved wooden sculpture was inspired by his research in peculiar experiences and phenomena associated with churches, old houses, museums, archaeological sites, and forests. In addition to his sculpture, Hilario was also a painter, curator, and writer. Hilario was the curator of the Pinto Art Museum from 2012-2015.
In 2012, Hilario received an Asian Cultural Council (ACC) Fellowship to research traditional woodcarving in Malaysia and to participate in a five-month residency at the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (LMCC) in New York. “The highlight of my program was the paradigm shift that occurred in my work and my aesthetics as a result of several interactions and engagements with other artists at the LMCC program and the fellow ACC grantees. This shift can be described as a realization of a more project-based, conceptual mode of work that characterizes …
Riel Jaramillo Hilario (Philippines, b. 1976-2021) began his training as a woodcarver working with a traditional santo-maker in his hometown in Vigan, Ilocos Sur, Philippines. After graduating from the Philippines High School for the Arts, Hilario studied painting and art history at the University of the Philippines. Hilario contemporized the traditional technique from the last carver of a family of santo-carvers from Ilocos Sur. His carved wooden sculpture was inspired by his research in peculiar experiences and phenomena associated with churches, old houses, museums, archaeological sites, and forests. In addition to his sculpture, Hilario was also a painter, curator, and writer. Hilario was the curator of the Pinto Art Museum from 2012-2015.
In 2012, Hilario received an Asian Cultural Council (ACC) Fellowship to research traditional woodcarving in Malaysia and to participate in a five-month residency at the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (LMCC) in New York. “The highlight of my program was the paradigm shift that occurred in my work and my aesthetics as a result of several interactions and engagements with other artists at the LMCC program and the fellow ACC grantees. This shift can be described as a realization of a more project-based, conceptual mode of work that characterizes contemporary art that is still in its incipience of practice in Manila and elsewhere in Southeast Asia.”
