Fire enters Milo Naval’s Yakisugi as an unlikely collaborator at Aphro Living. We could say that the metamorphosis feels inevitable for a designer who has spent decades coaxing new life from wood. Across interiors and furniture, his vision has long relied on lucid geometry and an economy of form, with indigenous materials lending warmth and tactile depth to his brand of modernism, one that feels distinctly Filipino without becoming too soullessly decorative. The exhibition is Naval’s first solo presentation as a visual artist, a break from his naturalistic design language. For decades, the designer has worked with the same fundamental questions: What can certain materials withstand? How do I reveal their natural character? How can order and irregularity co-exist? Interestingly, the show also took shape through Naval’s collaboration with Christina “Ling” Quisumbing Ramilo, the renowned mixed-media and assemblage artist who curated Yakisugi. Their partnership began through one of those fortunate..
