Meet Clarissa Arguelles Moreno
Clarissa Arguelles Moreno was born in Bukidnon, in the Southern Philippines, but grew up in Manila.
She lived in Guatemala and Kingston, Jamaica for a number of years before moving to the United States,
where she lived and worked as an artist, and had a small marketing and corporate services firm until
2002. Since then, Clarissa has resided in Basel, Switzerland, with her husband, Ramon Moreno.
Largely self-taught in drawing and painting from a very young age, Clarissa Moreno was admitted to the
third-year level university fine arts program of the University of the East, Manila, at the age of twelve on
the basis of her portfolio. In Guatemala, she completed a series of oil paintings of Mayan Indians,
depicting individuals rather than just their costumes, in a classical style of portraiture. (All these
paintings were stolen, though a few photographs are shown in her web-site, www.cmoreno.com.
While in the U.S., she employed color, texture, and form in installations, and figurative paintings in oil and
acrylic to highlight the energy and stress of American culture, and accentuate the characteristics of
contemporary American life with some force and clarity.
Her approach to art has been influenced by the work of Max Beckman, and more recently, by Anselm
Kiefer. Other influences include university training in classical painting (concurrent with grade school
and high school -- at the University of the East, and Philippine Women's University), figure and portrait
painting at New York City’s Art Student's League, sculpture and ceramics at the Jamaica Cultural
training Center in Kingston, Jamaica, and painting at the San Francisco School of Art. She also holds a
Bachelor of Arts in Literature from De La Salle University, Manila.
Basel’s influence in Clarissa’s life is clearly reflected in her recent work. She has completed for
exhibition, the following series: drawings on 3 dimensions (on sculptural shapes in recycled plastics,
wood, and metallic surfaces), multi-sided paintings, metal and mixed media reliefs, plexiglass
reflections, paintings on wood and ceramics, sculpted paintings/female art-lanterns, and
“innerscapes.”
The multi-sided paintings are acrylic on canvas of various shapes and sizes, where all surfaces have
been painted over. These 3-dimensional objects are meant to hang in space rather than rest against a
wall. The art-lanterns are multi-media, painted, and layered low-reliefs on plastics and hand-pressed
rice papers with fabrics, metal bits, and other objects. They are figurative installations lit from within.
The paintings on ceramics are whimsical in nature. The innerscapes are miniature dioramas conveying
good wishes to the beholder.
Her most recent work is on exhibit at the Bank for International Settlements' Sports Club at Bottmingen,
Basel, Switzerland, from November 2 to 30, 2009. Selected works may also be viewed online, www.
clarissamoreno.com.
Clarissa Moreno has also exhibited in Manila, Philippines, Guatemala City, New York City, San Francisco,
Budapest, and Basel, Switzerland.
She accepts commissions, including portrait commissions, and may be contacted by e-mail at
clarissaarguellesmoreno@yahoo.com
Clarissa Arguelles Moreno was born in Bukidnon, in the Southern Philippines, but grew up in Manila.
She lived in Guatemala and Kingston, Jamaica for a number of years before moving to the United States,
where she lived and worked as an artist, and had a small marketing and corporate services firm until
2002. Since then, Clarissa has resided in Basel, Switzerland, with her husband, Ramon Moreno.
Largely self-taught in drawing and painting from a very young age, Clarissa Moreno was admitted to the
third-year level university fine arts program of the University of the East, Manila, at the age of twelve on
the basis of her portfolio. In Guatemala, she completed a series of oil paintings of Mayan Indians,
depicting individuals rather than just their costumes, in a classical style of portraiture. (All these
paintings were stolen, though a few photographs are shown in her web-site, www.cmoreno.com.
While in the U.S., she employed color, texture, and form in installations, and figurative paintings in oil and
acrylic to highlight the energy and stress of American culture, and accentuate the characteristics of
contemporary American life with some force and clarity.
Her approach to art has been influenced by the work of Max Beckman, and more recently, by Anselm
Kiefer. Other influences include university training in classical painting (concurrent with grade school
and high school -- at the University of the East, and Philippine Women's University), figure and portrait
painting at New York City’s Art Student's League, sculpture and ceramics at the Jamaica Cultural
training Center in Kingston, Jamaica, and painting at the San Francisco School of Art. She also holds a
Bachelor of Arts in Literature from De La Salle University, Manila.
Basel’s influence in Clarissa’s life is clearly reflected in her recent work. She has completed for
exhibition, the following series: drawings on 3 dimensions (on sculptural shapes in recycled plastics,
wood, and metallic surfaces), multi-sided paintings, metal and mixed media reliefs, plexiglass
reflections, paintings on wood and ceramics, sculpted paintings/female art-lanterns, and
“innerscapes.”
The multi-sided paintings are acrylic on canvas of various shapes and sizes, where all surfaces have
been painted over. These 3-dimensional objects are meant to hang in space rather than rest against a
wall. The art-lanterns are multi-media, painted, and layered low-reliefs on plastics and hand-pressed
rice papers with fabrics, metal bits, and other objects. They are figurative installations lit from within.
The paintings on ceramics are whimsical in nature. The innerscapes are miniature dioramas conveying
good wishes to the beholder.
Her most recent work is on exhibit at the Bank for International Settlements' Sports Club at Bottmingen,
Basel, Switzerland, from November 2 to 30, 2009. Selected works may also be viewed online, www.
clarissamoreno.com.
Clarissa Moreno has also exhibited in Manila, Philippines, Guatemala City, New York City, San Francisco,
Budapest, and Basel, Switzerland.
She accepts commissions, including portrait commissions, and may be contacted by e-mail at
clarissaarguellesmoreno@yahoo.com
| All rights reserved. |
Bio
 | |  | |  | |  | |  |
cmoreno.com artist's studio in san francisco