A great Indian sage has compared the act of the world's creation to a spider weaving his web from within, and then living in the midst of it. I steal this metaphor to help me describe how Norberto Carating has, from an interior descent into himself, emerged to create a sanctuary of large walls, with layers and layers of metallic acrylic: gold, copper and bronze. Within these walls he sits, enigmatic and mysterious, a deity in his own universe, reflecting on the hues and their movements, the under layers of shapes that dance in the light.

Asked for an artist's message, he retors with a dismissive laugh, lifting an eyebrow to his artwork: "Aren't these enough?" On my first sight of Tranquil Refuge, a diptych in iridescent bronze, I had to answer yes.

The paintings in the present collection are large in order to encompass and protect the artist, these pools of solid hues which he calls his "refuge." You sink into the shimmer and shadow, the greens are comforting, the golds alight on your skin, the silvers and bronzes are equally beckoning. Lured into Carating's universe and leaving reality behind, you understand that these reflecting sheaths do not only enfold you, they can mirror your dreams, or tell you what is hidden in your mind.

The lurking figures in the light, are they ghosts or dancers from the past or some portend to a future event ? Are they shadows at the bottom of a wishing well ? There is whimsy, there is play, but when you scrutinize them in terms of technique, there is nothing capricious in these paintings. The paint is applied solid and thick, four layers and more of iridescent acrylic that Carating has been experimenting with over the years. The work requires not only artistic sensibility, it also requires brawn, coordination and daring. Working with implements he has fashioned himself, Carating must be steady, swift, and keen. There is no prevaricating, no vacillations allowed. In his words, he is a "gambler" when he paints, because he risks the loss of a painting if he waits too long or falters or is unable to sustain the flow and rhythm of the work.

Carating has won almost all the major national competitions in his thirty years as a artist. He has exhibited all over the United States and most of Europe. He has several well-known series: Lamang Lupa, Anilao, to name a few.

It was twenty-two years ago at Hiraya's inaugural show when he first showed his work in this gallery. But in Tranquil Refuge, he exhibits his surest work. Confident and strong, here Carating paints with the maturity of one who has not only found and cultivated his muse, but has also discovered in her, his tranquility and refuge.