Anna Orlina: Glass as a reflection of self
Anna Orlina makes a striking entrance onto the solo‑exhibition circuit with Reflections of Being at Galerie Stephanie in Mandaluyong. Ten years after she began working with glass, the artist presents a body of work that feels both intimate and expansive, inviting visitors to linger on the sixth‑floor East Wing of Shangri‑La Plaza.
The show weaves together threads of family, faith, femininity, lineage and selfhood. Drawing on her own experience as a daughter and a young woman within the Orlina glass legacy, Orlina uses the medium to articulate personal narratives while probing the broader possibilities of glass sculpture.
Orlina’s process is hands‑on and inventive: she cuts, grinds, polishes and laminates sheets of glass, often repurposing scraps to form new compositions. She likens the assembly to playing with Legos, and the resulting pieces harness light, shadow, texture and subtle movement to create ever‑shifting optical effects.
Between figurative silhouettes and abstract structures, each sculpture reveals new details depending on the angle of view. The reflective surface acts as a literal and metaphorical mirror, offering viewers a moment to contemplate their own stories as much as the artist’s.