Brent Paguibitan

[he/him]

BFA Visual Studies

Brent is a Calgary-based contemporary figurative artist working primarily in oil paint. Recently, he’s learning classic baroque techniques to incorporate into his work, exploring dramatic lighting and realism. Being heavily inspired by the search of genuine human connection, meaningful relationships are what makes him feel most alive. Living in an increasingly digital world, his work is there to remind himself and others to continue that search.

Mothers Grief: Reinterpretation of William-Adolphe Bouguereau’s Pietà, 2026Oil on wood, 30” x 30”

The work is done as a study of Bouguereau’s Pietà with incorporating Caravaggio’s techniques of painting. The golden halo and other figures that are present in the original, is removed to isolated and focus more on the grief that the Virgin Mary is experiencing, after the death of her son. This humanises the two divine figures to remind us that these were people who also had complex human emotions, just like us. Although removing the golden halos was the main focus on this painting, the halos are still present that is made visible with brush strokes. This is also to remind us that these are divine entities.