Scriptorium is an exhibition of drawing and chine-collé that reflects Magno’s past and current contemplation of human’s ethereal relation with the physical and the divine. His strong religious grounding (gained from his great-grandfather and grandfather who were both priests of the Aglipayan Church) exposed himto different religious practices whose elements he has expressed in visual forms.

By presenting texts and estampitas (scapulars) that portray abstract representations of people (rendering them anonymous) based on their confessions, Magno creates a space that conveys different narratives to the viewer. These drawings are part of an installation to signify the creation of a site in an ambiguous spatial context. Like the Scriptorium (the place where scribes wrote biblical narratives or illuminated manuscripts during the medieval times), the museum becomes a medium for the creation of narratives based on familiar and newfound experiences from viewing the exhibit. The exhibit runs until June 27, 2015 at the UP Vargas Museum.

Angelo Magno (b. 1979) received his bachelor’s degree in Art Studies at the University of the Philippines in Diliman in 2000 and is currently finishing his masters on Fine Arts in the same university. He is a member of the Printmakers Association of the Philippines (PAP), and a teacher at the Asia Pacific Collége (APC), School of Multimedia Arts. He has exhibited his works in the Philippines, Malaysia, USA and Indonesia.