Found Artworks Series 11042026
Artist Norman Montifar
Day Dreaming Session
1974
Mixed Media Drawings
11" × 8" Approx.
A Found Artwork Series 11042026
A Critique
Amiel Gerald A. Roldan™
November 4, 2026
The artwork is a mixed-media drawing (primarily blue ink or watercolor wash with line work, possibly with pastel or crayon elements) on aged, yellowish-tan paper. It features a loosely arranged composition of roughly a dozen stylized human figures in various relaxed, reclining, seated, or semi-floating poses, rendered in a monochromatic blue palette against the warm ground. The figures have simplified, elongated, or geometricized forms with hatched or washed clothing/robes that give a sense of volume and drape; faces are minimally detailed or abstracted.
Key groupings include:
- Upper section: a seated or kneeling figure in profile (left), a figure with hand to head/face in a contemplative or weary pose (center), and a standing/floating figure in a wide hat and robe (right).
- Middle: reclining figures (one horizontal with legs extended), a figure leaning on an elbow or propped, another seated with knees drawn up, and a figure with arm extended.
- Lower section: a large reclining figure with hand near head, another fully horizontal figure at the bottom, and small objects (vases or bottles) near the lower right.
Scattered elements include a small circular form (possibly a plate or bowl) and faint atmospheric washes or stains. The paper shows uneven aging, foxing, and edge wear.
Visible text at the bottom left reads “DAY DREAMING SESSION.” At the lower right is a signature/inscription that appears as “NM 2-35” (or similar) above “LXXIV” (Roman numerals for 74, consistent with 1974). Faint additional handwritten notes appear along the bottom edge.
Norman Montifar (sometimes appearing as Mortifar in records) was a Filipino artist active in the Philippine contemporary art scene of the 1970s. He is documented in the Asia Art Archive in connection with the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) Annual exhibitions (including the First CCP Annual of Recent Paintings and Sculptures, 1976, and the Third CCP Annual, 1978) and the Museum of Philippine Art’s Museum Artists show in 1979. A 1976 pastel-on-paper work by him has appeared at auction in the Philippines. He is also listed in Artists in Canada under the technique of drawing.
The 1974 date places the piece in the early phase of his documented activity, during the Marcos-era cultural institutionalization centered on the CCP. The title *Day Dreaming Session* and the scattered, non-narrative arrangement of figures in states of rest, reclining, leaning, or abstracted “floating” suggest a meditation on interiority, lethargy, reverie, or collective psychological withdrawal. The blue monochrome on warm ground creates a cool, introspective mood; the simplified, almost archaic or modernist figuration (echoing aspects of mid-century Philippine modernism and international influences such as simplified Cubist or expressionist figure studies) prioritizes pose, rhythm, and atmosphere over portraiture or social realism. The “session” implies either a shared dream state or an artist’s observational exercise in capturing varied attitudes of repose.
Critique
Strengths lie in the rhythmic distribution of forms across the sheet and the effective use of a restricted palette. The blue washes and hatching give the robes and bodies a tactile, fabric-like quality while keeping the figures from becoming overly solid or illustrative; the negative space and warm paper ground allow the eye to wander among the poses without hierarchical focus, reinforcing the daydream theme. The informal, almost sketchbook-like arrangement feels spontaneous and personal rather than over-composed, which suits the subject of mental drift. The Roman-numeral dating and modest signature fit the period’s documentary habits among Philippine artists working outside pure commercial channels.
Limitations include a certain uniformity of handling: many figures share similar proportions and drapery treatment, which can flatten individual psychological nuance, and the overall effect remains closer to a competent figure study or atmospheric ensemble than a fully resolved, emotionally penetrating statement. Compared with more assertive or politically charged Philippine works of the same decade, it is quieter and more private—an asset for intimacy, a potential shortcoming if one seeks stronger formal innovation or narrative urgency. The paper’s aging and staining now function almost as an unintended atmospheric layer, enhancing the sense of faded memory or hazy consciousness, though they also indicate the work was not produced or stored as a high-finish exhibition piece.
Overall, Day Dreaming Session is a solid, evocative example of 1970s Filipino figurative modernism focused on interior states. It demonstrates Montifar’s facility with line, wash, and compositional scatter, and it rewards slow looking for the quiet interplay of poses and the cool-warm chromatic tension. It is more personal sketchbook-poem than manifesto, which is precisely where its modest charm resides.
About the Author...
Amiel Gerald A. Roldan (born 1972, Mandaluyong City, Philippines) is a multidisciplinary Filipino visual artist, printmaker, painter, independent curator, researcher, writer, and cultural worker whose practice has unfolded since the mid-to-late 1990s. He is not primarily defined by discrete artworks but by sustained engagement with the full ecology of Philippine contemporary art: production, exhibition-making, documentation, pedagogy, criticism, artist development, and the often-invisible labor that sustains cultural infrastructure.
Educated in Studio Painting (BA Fine Arts and Certificate of Fine Arts) at the University of the Philippines Diliman (roughly 1993–1998), Roldan’s practice quickly expanded beyond painting into printmaking, photography, installation, writing, and curatorial work. Early recognition included an Honourable Mention from the Art Association of the Philippines (1995) and international print exhibitions: the 1996 Japan-Asia Print Exhibition at the Fukuoka Prefectural Museum and the 4th Triennial Mondiale d’Estampes Petit Format in Chamalières, France (1998). His prints from this period addressed socially charged subjects, including HIV/AIDS work beginning around 1995, and titles such as Mga OCWs Galing Pinas, Karaoke Queen, Mga Tinikling Dancers ng Pinas, Wealth, Liberate, Permanence, and Abundance. These works treat printmaking as a vehicle for social commentary, cultural documentation, and reflection on Filipino identity, marginality, labor, and everyday experience.
A pivotal chapter came with the 2003–2004 Asian Cultural Council (ACC) Starr Foundation Fellowship. Roldan spent approximately ten months in the United States, working in association with the International Studio and Curatorial Program (ISCP) in New York—where he was among the early Filipino participants—and the Experimental Printmaking Institute in Pennsylvania. He also held a Chashama studio residency in Tribeca. The fellowship enabled observation of contemporary practices, dialogue with international artists and curators, and production of new work that linked local concerns with global contexts. More recently, his piece Bridges Beyond Borders (representing cultural collaboration and exchange) was selected as visual identity for the ACC Global Alumni Network, underscoring a two-way circulation of ideas rather than one-directional “representation” of the Philippines abroad.
Key contributions to Philippine art can be understood across interconnected dimensions:
1. Printmaking as socially engaged practice — Roldan has consistently used the medium for questions of identity, migration, popular culture, inequality, and Filipino lived experience, situating the print within a tradition that functions simultaneously as aesthetic object, document, and argument.
2. Artist-curator continuum — He has organized and curated exhibitions, documented practices, and supported artist development with institutions and spaces including Hiraya Gallery, Jorge B. Vargas Museum, Kulay Diwa Art Galleries (where he served in curatorial/directorial roles), Cultural Center of the Philippines, NCCA-related projects, Imahica Art, Gallerie Anna, and others. He has collaborated with figures such as Roberto Chabet, Brenda Fajardo, and international artists (e.g., from Studio One in Canberra, as well as practitioners from Sri Lanka, Malaysia, and Korea). More recently he has worked as program/marketing director and consultant curator for art fairs and spaces (including involvement with Manila Bang Show 2024 and MOCAF 2024). For Roldan these activities are not peripheral administration but forms of creative and intellectual labor.
3. Independent curatorial culture — He founded or leads Independent Curatorial Manila (ICM), conceived as an independent/voluntary curatorial service and guide for emerging Filipino artists. This reflects a commitment to pathways outside strictly institutional structures in an ecosystem heavily reliant on informal networks, galleries, independent spaces, and personal relationships.
4. International exchange and cultural memory — Beyond the ACC fellowship, his practice emphasizes postcolonial discourse, cultural memory, social inequality, politics, religion, faith, denial, courage, and everyday Filipino life. Writing, research, archiving, and annotation form integral parts of the work; recent reflective essays (including “Cultural Workers: Not Creative?” associated with a 2025 group exhibition at ILOMOCA) explicitly challenge hierarchies that privilege object-making over documentation, facilitation, pedagogy, marketing, and infrastructure-building.
5. Art as research and infrastructure — Roldan’s trajectory is circular rather than linear: artist → researcher → curator → writer → organizer → archivist → facilitator → artist. Making exhibitions possible, mentoring, documenting overlooked histories, building counter-archives, and writing critically about the conditions of art production are treated as artistic acts in their own right. This challenges romantic notions of the solitary artist and reframes the cultural worker as central to the art ecology.
Works are held in collections including the Singapore National Gallery / Singapore Museum, Luciano Benetton Collection (Imago Mundi / Venice), Rockefeller-related holdings, Lisa H. Mackie Collection, Philippine Department of Health collection, and the Experimental Printmaking Institute. Solo exhibitions include Memoirs of Pipay (Hiraya Gallery, 1996/2000), Pasintabi (Kulay Diwa, early 2000s), and Creating Identities (UP CFA Corridor Gallery, 2014), among others; group shows span Philippine institutions and international print platforms.
In one concise framing: Amiel Gerald Roldan is an artist-curator-cultural worker whose practice connects art-making with memory, social inquiry, international dialogue, independent curation, and the construction of cultural infrastructure. His potential legacy resides equally in the artworks produced, the ideas articulated in writing and reflection, and the often-invisible relational and organizational labor that helps other artists and artworks circulate. In a Philippine contemporary art field shaped by limited institutional resources and dense interpersonal networks, that third dimension—the work of making the ecology function—may prove among the most consequential.
Recent group show at ILOMOCA
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Chashama at 40 Worth Open Studios
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Amiel Gerald A. Roldan™ started Independent Curatorial Manila™ as a nonprofit philanthropy while working for institutions simultaneously early on.
The Independent Curatorial Manila™ or ICM™ is a curatorial services and guide for emerging artists in the Philippines. It is an independent/voluntary services entity and aims to remain so. Selection is through proposal and a prerogative temporarily. Contact above for inquiries.
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