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‘Unveiling Perspectives’ Showcases the Materiality of the World
For Unveiling Perspectives, Quezon City-based art gallery Kaida Contemporary assembled a group of artists to create different compositions that portray their daily lived experiences. It shows them in a way that illustrates their individuality as artists, with different materials that are important to them and their craft as a whole.
“Art has a way of shifting our vision, of making the familiar strange and the strange familiar,” Kaye O’Yek wrote in the exhibit write-up. “Unveiling Perspectives gathers eleven artists whose works unfold in layers of material, of memory, of quiet insistence.”
Transfixing Images of Everyday Life
Despite the different mediums and perspectives, the exhibit unifies them with works that depict something real and personal. It’s unique in its format, structure, and materials, yes, but the biggest differentiating thing is how these pieces could only be created by these specific artists within this context of time.
For example, Nicole Asares utilizes a layered, string-like process that creates abstract pipe-like images that interconnect together in a larger environment. In this exhibit’s context, the method works to create “Roundtrip from HK to Macau,” which depicts a bustling cityscape and its different transportation options.
Natasha Juliano’s contribution to Unveiling Perspectives, “Dream, girl,” is a fragmented depiction of women’s legs in movement, offering a skewed and surreal view of women seemingly being cut out from the full picture. It looks like a television screen going berserk, which O’Yek refers to as “a twisted choreographed dream.”
Veronica Ibaretta, meanwhile, demonstrates skilled craftsmanship with “Spectrum of Dots: The Colors of Pointillism.” This painting shows different oil dots layered on top of each other, creating a striking and immersive wave of color. Ibaretta added unused oil pastel color sticks above the pointillist work to contrast with their use in the work.
New Perspectives
Unveiling Perspectives captivates its audience by curating artworks that distinctly diverge, each offering a unique and compelling viewpoint. Nina Garibay’s “Mamma,” for example—a headless, disembodied torso served on a platter—finds aesthetic similarities with Genavee Lazaro’s “The Kiln Gods are Women,” which depicts a collection of jars inside a container.
In a way, despite the diverging styles, the exhibit still finds links to the paintings in interesting ways. The scientific-looking fingerprint ink and incense-burned paper art by Julieanne Ng can be put side-by-side with Kadin Tiu’s painting of an orange seasonal leaf. This creates a conversation about the similarities and differences of the work despite the lack of obvious connection at first.
Instead of seeking uniformity, Unveiling Perspectives embraces contrasts. The exhibit gave each artist space to present their distinct—even conflicting—viewpoints. It invites audiences to recognize that while these perspectives may not seamlessly align, they can still coexist—reflecting a world as diverse in thought as it is in life.
“Each piece in this exhibition opens a door, shifts a line, alters what we think we see. These are perspectives in flux-unveiled, but never fixed,” O’Yek wrote.
Photos by Elle Yap.
Related reading: ‘Sur’ Celebrates the Artists’ Perspectives of Culture in Mindanao
Frequently Asked Questions
The exhibition highlights how personal outlooks and daily lived experiences influence the creation of art. By gathering eleven different artists, the show illustrates how individuality and memory shape an artist’s craft, effectively making “the familiar strange and the strange familiar.” The collection emphasizes that art is a layer of material and quiet insistence that shifts a viewer’s vision of the world.
Materiality is central to the show, with each artist utilizing unique mediums that are personal to their craft. For instance, Nicole Asares uses a layered, string-like process to depict a cityscape, while Veronica Ibaretta incorporates unused oil pastel sticks alongside a pointillist painting to contrast the raw material with its finished application. These diverse textures and techniques invite the audience to appreciate the physical substance and evolution of each piece.
The exhibit features contrasting perspectives, such as Natasha Juliano’s “Dream, girl,” which uses fragmented imagery to offer a surreal view of movement, and Nina Garibay’s “Mamma,” which presents a disembodied torso on a platter. These works diverge significantly in style and subject matter, yet they are unified by the artists’ specific personal contexts and the particular moment in time in which they were created.
“Unveiling Perspectives” intentionally places diverging styles side-by-side, such as Julieanne Ng’s scientific fingerprint ink art next to Kadin Tiu’s painting of a seasonal leaf. This curation encourages audiences to find hidden links and explore the similarities and differences between pieces that lack an obvious connection. By embracing these contrasts, the exhibit reflects a world that is as diverse in thought as it is in life.
As a Women’s Month exhibition, the show celebrates the distinct and compelling viewpoints of female artists, providing them a platform to present their individuality without the need for uniformity. The exhibit suggests that artistic perspectives are in a constant state of flux—unveiled but never fixed—highlighting the multifaceted nature of the female experience. It invites the audience to recognize and respect the coexistence of conflicting or diverse viewpoints within the art world.
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