After traveling around the world to learn about her craft, this artist showcases her talent in an exhibition.
Looking through glass is like looking through an entrance to another dimension. The fragile nature of the material makes it unassuming—usually used for basic objects such as mirrors and dishes. Only a few brave the process of using glass as a medium—and Marge Organo is one of the few artists who are courageous enough to try and eventually thrive in the discipline.
Organo mastered incorporating different coloring techniques in her lamination—setting her processes apart. The female glass sculptor creates ethereal sculptures of religious images such as the “Sto: Niño” and the iconic “Mother and Child” with her style. Aside from her famous religious works, Organo also creates masterpieces dedicated to womanhood and femininity.
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Behind the glass
Organo’s exhibit in Galerie Joaquin BGC, entitled Iridescence, culminates her knowledge and experience as a glass sculptor. The exhibition features the techniques she learned from the different institutions she was involved in. “I discovered new tools, new shapes that I can make, and I was able to come up with new uses from the tools that I have,” Organo shared.
Before learning the ins and outs of the craft, Organo had to start somewhere—and unlike other artists, her humble beginnings in the field came later in her life. Now in her early 60s, Organo looks back on how she started in a farfetched industry. “I was a business person, a single mom. I have four kids to raise. Of course, when you are younger, you have to work to feed your children. So I was in business—I had a pharmaceuticals company,” she recalled.
The glass artist started her art career at the age of 56. Her dedication to creating and designing started as a hobby to pass the time. “When I was younger, I designed clothes or houses. Eventually, I designed condominiums, and after finishing designing one, I would buy another just to decorate it again. I thought it’s time to study art, to formalize my passion,” she said.
Breaking the mold
After enrolling in a drawing and painting class and realizing it was not for her, Organo enrolled in a sculpting class. “Why not sculpture, since there are not that many female sculptors,” she explained. After learning how to create molds for faces and bodily details, someone approached her and asked her a life-changing question.
“I knew someone who asked me to join an exhibit. I told my teacher, ‘Someone invited me to Alay Sining.’ He said, ’No Marge, don’t join. You’re not ready,’ I was hurt. I remember—every time I went home after classes, my children would sit in front of me, and I would sculpt their faces. So I had to choose between him and the exhibit, so I dropped out of his classes. I continued with the exhibit,” she said.
After realizing her passion for creating sculptures, she then challenged herself to use another medium, glass. She took her talents to New York—in the Corning Museum of Glass where she was awarded a scholarship in her second year of study in that prestigious institution. After her stint at Corning, she was accepted at the Kamenicky Senov, the oldest glass-making school in the world located in the Czech Republic, where she learned glass casting under the tutelage of top-notch Czech artists.
Iridescence by Marge Organo will be on view from June 9 – 23, 2023, at Galerie Joaquin BGC. The gallery is located on the Upper Ground Floor, One Bonifacio High Street Mall, 5th Ave. Corner 28th Street, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig. For inquiries, contact +63 915 739 1549 or email [email protected].
Banner photo by Galerie Joaquin.
