According to Haring, his work starts with good and bad memories and ends with a beautiful resolution.
Fragments of Time started with a memory of his late mother, an idea that came into fruition in the form of the Sodapop Bear, one of his most popular sculptures. It is more than just a toy. Apart from paying homage to his mother (the bear had been her favourite animal), it symbolises Haring’s principles in life. Art, for him, after all, is more than just a hobby. It is life.
Working outside the Studio Haring workshop in Rizal, he was amazed at the empty soda bottles he saw lying around. “After some time, I thought of using these for a new artwork,” he says. “Something so random became more and more pretty. It honestly looked like Emerald!”
For months, Haring has been trying to find a way to reduce the chemicals needed to make a sculpture like this. “So, I compressed the glass with epoxy resin, and I was able to reduce 75 per cent of the chemical.” As an artist, he is always looking for ways to make the impossible possible. Creating the Sodapop Bear is just one of the many instances in which he exemplifies such devotion.
