Retrospective: Reverie - White Walls Gallery

Exhibition

Online

Main Gallery

February 6, 2021

There lies a saying that Time’s arrow stops for no one, life moves past us before we even take notice. Often, we couldn’t help but look back at the moments and places that no longer exist in the present, seeing them only through the memory banks of our minds. Remnants of what was once there thrives in our familiarity of them, and in the midst of going about our daily routines we find reality blurring as we question our sudden loss of consciousness. We daydream or find ourselves experiencing déjà vu, surrendering to the call of inviting the feelings of the past to the present.

For his 4th Solo Exhibition, Jep Dizon takes inspiration in this familiarity and desire to reconnect with what has gone by, exploring the boundaries of his thoughts through a series of narratives that travel beyond time itself. “Retrospective: Reverie” showcases the artist’s vision in introspective portraits; each subject draped in his signature fabrics and poised stoically in their own space, lost in their own reveries.

As we enter a new year, it can’t be helped that certain traumas and feelings muster up the strength to still affect us to this day. Be it past experiences, present predicaments or future anxieties, these invisible ghosts lie insidious in the dark, holding and waiting for us to succumb to them.

For his fifth solo exhibition, artist Yao Sampana presents us with “Behind the Shadows”, a somber exposition of portraits unveiling the abstract hauntings that plague us in our everyday. The artist brandishes his signature use of bluish-hued figures over dark backgrounds and red curtains to personify one’s struggles, providing for stark contrasts between saturated and desaturated tones, a power play of sorts towards the grim subject matter and the humanity behind coping with them. Inspired by his personal journey in confronting the invisible demons that hamper his creative ventures, the show aims to recognize, materialize and accept these negativities as part of one’s growth. Yao Sampana’s drive to overcome what haunts him is evident in his use of grasping hands and contorted figures; his hyperrealist technique evident as it provides for visceral images of despair and ultimately, acceptance.