Wilbert Tiongson

"Realism paints the face, Abstraction paints the journey"

I paint the point where a person's appearance meets their history. The face is rendered with realist precision — it's the part of us the world can see. Everything around it dissolves into abstraction: the experiences, beliefs, and inner weather that shape who we are but never show on the surface.

I work in oil, in earth tones, and I deliberately leave my brushwork visible. Each gestural stroke is a decision made in the moment, unrepeatable — a record of where my mind was as the painting took form. I don't smooth these marks away, because the imperfection is the honesty.

Many of my titles come from Greek — Doxa, Kenosis, Pneuma — words for inner states that English struggles to name. Each painting is finished only when a viewer brings their own story to it.