BEN ALBINO

Trampling on a journey of social unrest, Albino interrogates the choices we make and the heaviness of the roles we take. In one of his works, he visualizes the sheepish nature of those who have been accustomed as blind followers. The smug disillusioned air that stretches over the landscape offers a testimony that such societal realities, even with a folklore reference to Ibong Adarna, are part evident in current times and could possibly be part of a continuum that perpetuates long after we are gone. 

BILLY BAGTAS

On the onset, and in its cracked darkness, Bagtas’ works express a pitiful situation of depravity, corruption, vileness, and hate. Bagtas, however, does more than that. He delves onto the mystery that transcends the physicality – the sacred in this world of profanity. His works display a point of nuisance where darkness and religion are associated and confounded. Every stroke that alights on his canvas reveals an overwhelming feeling of conflict, and a sensation within. But with every step of his struggle lies a seed of hope, and a seed of growth. His personal demons were evoked, but in this realization he elicits religious humility – a submergence and submission to the dark that has made him aware of the light.

MARKO BELLO

Bello depicts the presence of a puppeteer. In both of his works, it served as an ornamental manifestation of a recurring element that operates them. He puts forward the subtle presence of a controlling being that may serve either as a manipulative figure, or a guiding presence.  The subtle gestures of the subject portrayed in “Controlled Innocent,” suggests that the strings are being pulled to make him gear away from the dangers of the weapon he’s holding, yet at the same time, it also seems like it was the figure that put him there in the first place. This juxtaposition of the power of the puppeteer is conversed in Bello’s landscapes. He made use of a complex power play between the vulnerable and the puppeteer.

CEDRICK DELA PAZ

Dela Paz translates the language of societal interactions through an exhibition centered on mundane activities, or travelling in particular. Showcasing a scenario perhaps taken from a routine of an ordinary person, Dela Paz presents nuances from our natural tendencies, and subsequently puts forward a movement away from self-preoccupation. With the clever usage of panels to create polyptic landscapes, the artist was able to put emphasis on each person filled with own possibilities. In each panel, Dela Paz created an individual that urges the audiences to see him not just as an extension of oneself but as someone whom they may have hurt, someone that speaks in his own voice, someone who broods upon dreams –  upon the impossible, upon glimmerings, and upon the love in the sky. This idea of a transcendent face-to-face encounter with the characters are rendered to compel us to see them as such, and to be disturbed in the concept of otherness. Situated in a busy and ordinary setting, we will find one struggling to see others sitting in peripheries. After all, we all just want to go home. 

DENNIS JIMENEZ

Through his use of recycled, leftover wood materials and his crafting of images drawn from nature, Dennis Jimenez conveys his love of the environment in every aspect of his work. In a style reminiscent of steampunk, he blends technology and nature in a vision that serves as both homage to the natural world and as a warning for those who would exploit it. The inherent tension between the natural and the technological in these pieces is a mirror held up to the world we live in now: cogs and gears vie for dominance with flora and fauna, almost harmonious in how Dennis Jimenez brings them together, but this potential for peaceful coexistence is contrasted by the reality of the struggle between environment and industry.

GENAVEE LAZARO

Lazaro dwells on a playful and serene wonderment. Her works linger over the unimaginable and magnificent affairs particularly when we’re unaware. The very thought is incarnated by a recurring group of high-spirited and impish cacti. These creatures act as the prime suspects for a lot of mysterious phenomena that transpired in the room. But perhaps with a delicate glance, these fragile yet playful creatures mischievously disappear as they remain with us.

JOSH LIMON PALISOC

Palisoc communicates through the language of metal. His sculpture exemplifies a mechanical impulse pointing at our ephemeral nature as humans. He shapes his work relying on his consciousness that creates a landscape and representation of what we are, and the legacy we create.