Unraveling eternal pain

Melvin Guirhem's 'Aeternum Dolorem' unfurls fabrics of family and anguish

- By S.C. FOJAS

In his 13th solo exhibit, aptly titled "Aeternum Dolorem" - Latin for "eternal pain" - Filipino fabric artist Melvin Guirhem takes his viewers into his intricate and often disquieting personal history.

Currently showing at Art Cube Philippines until May 7, the collection of handcrafted textile art serves not as lament, but as a profound exploration of pain's enduring presence, particularly within the sphere of family and kinship.

Stepping into the exhibit is like entering Melvin's very psyche. The artist employs the horror vacui aesthetic, a deliberate filling of the entire surface with intricate detail, to depict what he describes as his "malignant familial narrative." Through a dense layering of vividly colored fabric cutouts and elaborate stitchwork, he conjures scenes brimming with chaos and a palpable sense of anguish. Distorted, surreal figures inhabit these richly textured spaces, their strained relationships underscored by the very fabrics that connect them.