Born August 14, 1963 , entered the University of the Philippines but dropped out in 1983 after taking the UP Film Center ’s 8 th Cinema as Art Workshop, Pablo Biglang-Awa decided to pursue filmmaking. His success in short film production such as winning awards from Manila Short Film Fest and Experimental Cinema of the Philippines further encouraged his interest. He eventually landed a job in video production as an artist and editor in 1985, and has worked with film legendaries such as Mike deLeon. In 1990, he transferred to Optima Digital doing high-end effects mostly for TV commercials. In 1995, he transferred to Unitel Pictures as a visual effects supervisor, and is currently a director for TV commercials.

Biglang-Awa’s flat, solid colors, the uneding propulsion of his figures, and their ingenious arrangement occupying the entire gallery spoke of “now” and the future. Taking off Hayao Mizaki’s “Mononoke Hime” (Princess Mononoke), Biglang-Awa captures the incessant movement of the moving picture, and the grace and flow of the painting medium.

He reports that the first animè he watched was “Alakazam the Great” by Toei, directed by Tezuka Osamu of Tetsuwan Atomu (Astroboy) fame. Biglang-Awa cites the “complexities of animè , in terms of not only its narrative but also its technical rendition. I have high regard in its depiction of a future world, its mysteries, its horrors and conflicts; how science and nature become powerful forces of destruction and creation. I became interested in its detailed rendition of how forces of nature behave. Destruction and creation was never rendered as horrific, vivid, and cinematic as before.”

As a director, Biglang-Awa is proficient in the use and possibilities of the digital creation. These had often helped him in planning and laying the groundwork for his artworks on canvas. The flatness of the spaces that surround his artworks suggest anim è imagery which he heightens by eliminating or dissecting whole images. For balance he may sometimes use texture and colored patches. The rendition of lines are done meticulously, suggesting an almost artificial glaze to his works, as traces of hand strokes appear invisible. This, he professes is the most difficult part of rendering his paintings as he continually experimented until he found the right technique. Despite the conveniences of modern technology, he confesses that “nothing compares to the tactility of the hand, brush, and paint on canvas. The satisfaction it brings is indescribable.”