SIMULA, SUBOK, PANATA

A Three-Man Exhibition on the Stages of Love

 

Love is never a single moment.

It is a passage—tentative, demanding, and deliberate.

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Simula, Subok, Panata brings together Soothsayer, Aeron Dizon, and Ronwel Cruz in an exploration of love not as an idealized destination, but as a lived, evolving experience. Through distinct visual languages, the artists trace love’s movement from anticipation, to trial, to commitment—where emotions mature and meaning deepens over time.

 

The exhibition begins with Simula (Getting to Know)—the fragile threshold where love first takes shape. Here, affection exists in glances, curiosity, and imagined futures. It is tender and incomplete, marked by projection and possibility. This stage captures love before certainty, when hope is louder than truth and vulnerability is still unguarded.

 

It then unfolds into Subok (The Test / Dating Stage)—where emotions encounter reality. Desire intensifies, intimacy grows, and friction inevitably appears. This stage reflects negotiation: between self and other, freedom and attachment, expectation and compromise. Love is no longer hypothetical; it is tested, questioned, and reshaped.

 

The journey culminates in Panata (Marriage / Commitment)—love as a conscious, enduring choice. Beyond romance, this stage confronts routine, responsibility, sacrifice, and shared life. Here, love is no longer performative or symbolic; it is sustained through patience, presence, and resilience. It is quieter, heavier, and more honest.

 

Together, Simula, Subok, Panata presents love as a process rather than a promise— messy, evolving, and deeply human.