These Acts
Various Artists
Micaela Benedicto, Gerecho Iniel Cruz, Rhaz Oriente, Marco Rosario, Eska Beldia, Kristen Cain, Marge Chavez, Gab Ferrer, Tish Hautea, Fara Manuel, Gabi Nazareno
Micaela Benedicto, Gerecho Iniel Cruz, Rhaz Oriente, Marco Rosario, Eska Beldia, Kristen Cain, Marge Chavez, Gab Ferrer, Tish Hautea, Fara Manuel, Gabi Nazareno
14 September - 13 August 2024
Curated by
Eya Beldia
14 September - 13 August 2024
These Acts, At Rest
Here I probe actions that embody, prompting artists to contemplate on the ways they move through the world and discover oneself. There is nothing new in this exhibition’s premise: beings and being in and of the world. In this two-part presentation, we enter an environment that is organized separately, yet is one conceptually; and, more importantly, engages in the question, how do we hold conversations through our actions?
These Acts present interventions from ideas to objects. Each artwork was sourced, shaped, printed, assembled, or reconfigured by working hands that move in the world. The artists were asked to begin by looking at the processes and routines that they embody daily. Act I focuses on the movement of looking upward and outward, in observation of the world around, using accessible materials from steel to clay, copper wires, and so on. Act II interrogates inward — to seek an understanding of the self through the printmaking medium and how this understanding shapes one’s movements.
Act I
In Act I, Benedicto borrows from the Volume series of mirror steel works she produced in an attempt to split the physical world. In folding, bending, peeling or protruding these two dimensional sheets, she multiplies the concrete forms that section off the physical world. In Cruz’s works, light and sound are crucial components. His intermedia works encourage interaction and exude playfulness. Light makes up Oriente’s work as she approaches the seemingly mundane and solitary moments of life in her making. Potter Rosario forms clouds from earth. In this series of vessels, he contemplates on clouds as metaphor for the mind’s eye.
Act II
Printmakers Beldia, Cain, Chavez, Ferrer, Hautea, Manuel and Gabby expose and explore printmaking techniques on various surfaces to reveal reflections into their inner worlds. These pieces honor print traditions while taking part in the discourse of contemporary printmaking. Whether on paper, mirror, or textile, these prints narrate a range of cultural experiences, from the responsibilities they must uphold or the migration they participate in. Emerging from these pieces are cross sections into their routines and evolving self-discovery. Presented on a table, the artworks commune with each other even when the artists physically cannot.
Together, Act I and Act II, was assembled with work – work done with late nights spilling over into early mornings, accompanied by overflowing cups of coffee or tea. Pieces thought about, made, and retouched to bring to light something new. The structure in which we operate is washed in white before and after this. The setting is, as always, filled with bright lights, blank walls, and artificial air. For a year, email exchanges and back-and-forth calls gestured towards this present. Throughout this process, I reference serial exhibitions that came before, such as Slash/Art Artist’s Initiatives’ series of exhibitions titled Impetus in 2014 and Sunshower: Contemporary Art from Southeast Asia, 1980s to Now held in 2017. The earlier exhibition, I only read about but the other, I intentionally saw. In Legaspi-Ramirez wrote about how “curation is about making art present. Through this, exposing the seams of history through what we do in exhibition making, platform making, and the other curatorial variants of our practices, perhaps becomes more purposeful.” In light of the intense changing climate and a fast-expanding, artificially intelligent, virtual world, these acts come from the practices sustained by and struggling in harsh geopoetic conditions. I ponder on these under the palpable pressure of independent curatorial work while tethered to an institution in Asia, only to take comfort in knowing that it is not about me, alone. It is about an invitation. First, to the artists in Act I, to present works that make up the world using the medium they are most comfortable with. Second, to printmakers in Act II, to print manifestations of and into their inner worlds. Lastly, to the viewers, to respond to these works and their meanings. Experimentally, could hosting a participatory wall in the exhibition space bring about purposeful exchange? All together, what could These Acts mean to the viewer?
We assume, somewhat recklessly, that after every action, change occurs. In these conditions, change means the hope to move towards growth rather than a turn for the worst - a side effect of belief. Locating These Acts in these times, it is worrisome that it could just fall into the trap of insistence and a tendency to remain hopeful. Nietszche via Geczy wrote it well for after all, we are “human, all too human.” To a fault, it is attractive to embrace the possibility of a better consciousness as a result of productivity and development. And to some extent, this exhibition took cues from art’s capacity to envision change. Geczy ponders that “art can give someone relief that there is someone else out there who offers an exception to the amount of crap in the contemporary art world, and it can articulate a concern, an interest, a condition that may not be acceptable to the mainstream eyes…” Perhaps, towards the end, it’s not so much about hope, but about persisting. After these ideas on change, may acts, such as these, persist and sustain.
eyb
Ref:
Legaspi-Ramirez, EIleen. There are No Blank Slates, 2023.
Geczy, Adam. Art: Histories, Theories, and Exceptions, 2008
About the Artist
About the Artists
Micaela Benedicto is an architect, artist, and musician living and working in Manila. She set up the design firm MB Architecture Studio in 2007. The work of MB Architecture Studio places emphasis on thorough planning and form finding to achieve a distinct spatial quality, informed by site conditions in the tropical context and the project clients’ individual stories.
Benedicto’s art practice involves the construction of three-dimensional forms and the manipulation of materials in order to explore ideas of impermanence, memory and loss. Working across sculpture and the photogram method of photography, she creates forms and images that possess transformative properties and aim to engage the viewer’s perception. Her architecture and music backgrounds inform the language of her work in visual art, through the use of geometric form, sequence, and pattern. Her objective is to explore in architectonic form the combination of truth and individual imagination by which one constructs their perception of a structure, object, or image.
Gerecho Iniel Cruz (b. 1985, Manila) creates works to share his lens and ruminations about multidimensionality. His works meet at the intersection of creativity and technology influenced by the different disciplines. As a painter and a tinkerer, his practice seeks to spark curiosity and excitement.
Rhaz Oriente (b. 1992) is a multidisciplinary artist based in Manila whose work explores light, memory, time, and perception through spatial and material interventions. Her practice engages with reflective and transparent materials—such as glass, acrylic, gradients, and image-based surfaces to examine how light shapes what we see, feel, and remember. Often minimal and quiet in form, her works respond to their environment, subtly shifting with light, movement, or the viewer’s presence.
Her process blends slow looking, emotional grounding, and intuitive research—drawing from personal encounters, spatial shifts, and the way light marks time and place. She is curious about how we relate to the moments and spaces we move through, and what remains after something passes. Light, in her work, is not a medium but a condition something that reveals, flickers, softens, or leaves.
She has exhibited at MO_Space, Finale Art File, West Gallery, and Balai Seni Maybank in Kuala Lumpur. Her work has been featured in BusinessWorld, Cartellino, and SPOT.ph.
Marco Rosario (b. 1995, Rizal) explores stillness, memory, and the effect of clay bodies with different firing processes shaped from his training at the Tsugaru Kanayama Pottery in Aomori, Japan and his visual communication degree from UP Diliman. His works have been exhibited in various spaces across the Philippines.
Eska Beldia (b. 2004, Quezon city) studies at the College of Fine Arts at the University of the Philippines in Diliman. Her practice is a learning process that just began with her student life. Majoring in sculpture and minoring in print has lead her to also explore production design in films.
Kristen Cain (b. 1979, Temple city, Texas) is an interdisciplinary artist who has worked with the Philippine Association of Printmakers for over 10 years. Her printmaking involves collagraphs and monoprints using found objects as she explores various concepts that are mindful of the environment and nature.
Marge Chavez (b. 1991, Iloilo) dabbles in various mediums for her personal art practice and in community work as a core member of Kikik Kollektive. Whether through oil and acrylic paintings, digital art, printmaking, or pen and ink illustrations, she says that she “believes in the power of art to communicate profound ideas and continually seeks to learn more ways of articulation.”
Gab Ferrer (b. 1993, Quezon city) creates works that feel like diary pages reflecting her location and daily life. Her Currently based in Valencia, Negros Oriental, she is perpetually paying extraordinary attention to ordinary things. Gab sought a degree Fine Arts in Painting from the University of the Philippines, Diliman and the Philippine Women’s University, Taft after graduating from the Philippine High School for the Arts (PHSA)
Tish Hautea (b. 1988, Manila) makes works that play with the intersection of curiosity about individuals and their cultures with human desire. She draws inspiration from ther converations and interactions with people. Currently based in Melbourne, her art practice centers on printmaking, mixed media, carving on wood, and etching on various surfaces. She has exhibited her artwork in Australia, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, South Korea, and Thailand.
Fara Manuel (b. 1982, Manila) explores traditions and expands art practice through explorations in print and intermedia. Her teaching career spans over 12 years, specializing in art theory and practice-based research, photography, and geohumanities. She has worked with various institutions such as the Cultural Center of the Philippines and the University of the Philippines in Baguio to realize artworks and exhibitions.
Gabi Nazareno (b. 1991, Cebu city) actively exhibits works across the Philippines. She graduated Mass Communication in the University of the Philippines, Cebu (2011), before completing a BFA in Studio Arts (Painting), from the University of the Philippines in Diliman (2017), where she was awarded the Dominador Castañeda Award for Outstanding Thesis. She was also a recipient of the President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo Award for Outstanding Achievement in Culture and Arts in 2007.
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About the Artists
About the Artist
Micaela Benedicto is an architect, artist, and musician living and working in Manila. She set up the design firm MB Architecture Studio in 2007. The work of MB Architecture Studio places emphasis on thorough planning and form finding to achieve a distinct spatial quality, informed by site conditions in the tropical context and the project clients’ individual stories.
Benedicto’s art practice involves the construction of three-dimensional forms and the manipulation of materials in order to explore ideas of impermanence, memory and loss. Working across sculpture and the photogram method of photography, she creates forms and images that possess transformative properties and aim to engage the viewer’s perception. Her architecture and music backgrounds inform the language of her work in visual art, through the use of geometric form, sequence, and pattern. Her objective is to explore in architectonic form the combination of truth and individual imagination by which one constructs their perception of a structure, object, or image.
Gerecho Iniel Cruz (b. 1985, Manila) creates works to share his lens and ruminations about multidimensionality. His works meet at the intersection of creativity and technology influenced by the different disciplines. As a painter and a tinkerer, his practice seeks to spark curiosity and excitement.
Rhaz Oriente (b. 1992) is a multidisciplinary artist based in Manila whose work explores light, memory, time, and perception through spatial and material interventions. Her practice engages with reflective and transparent materials—such as glass, acrylic, gradients, and image-based surfaces to examine how light shapes what we see, feel, and remember. Often minimal and quiet in form, her works respond to their environment, subtly shifting with light, movement, or the viewer’s presence.
Her process blends slow looking, emotional grounding, and intuitive research—drawing from personal encounters, spatial shifts, and the way light marks time and place. She is curious about how we relate to the moments and spaces we move through, and what remains after something passes. Light, in her work, is not a medium but a condition something that reveals, flickers, softens, or leaves.
She has exhibited at MO_Space, Finale Art File, West Gallery, and Balai Seni Maybank in Kuala Lumpur. Her work has been featured in BusinessWorld, Cartellino, and SPOT.ph.
Marco Rosario (b. 1995, Rizal) explores stillness, memory, and the effect of clay bodies with different firing processes shaped from his training at the Tsugaru Kanayama Pottery in Aomori, Japan and his visual communication degree from UP Diliman. His works have been exhibited in various spaces across the Philippines.
Eska Beldia (b. 2004, Quezon city) studies at the College of Fine Arts at the University of the Philippines in Diliman. Her practice is a learning process that just began with her student life. Majoring in sculpture and minoring in print has lead her to also explore production design in films.
Kristen Cain (b. 1979, Temple city, Texas) is an interdisciplinary artist who has worked with the Philippine Association of Printmakers for over 10 years. Her printmaking involves collagraphs and monoprints using found objects as she explores various concepts that are mindful of the environment and nature.
Marge Chavez (b. 1991, Iloilo) dabbles in various mediums for her personal art practice and in community work as a core member of Kikik Kollektive. Whether through oil and acrylic paintings, digital art, printmaking, or pen and ink illustrations, she says that she “believes in the power of art to communicate profound ideas and continually seeks to learn more ways of articulation.”
Gab Ferrer (b. 1993, Quezon city) creates works that feel like diary pages reflecting her location and daily life. Her Currently based in Valencia, Negros Oriental, she is perpetually paying extraordinary attention to ordinary things. Gab sought a degree Fine Arts in Painting from the University of the Philippines, Diliman and the Philippine Women’s University, Taft after graduating from the Philippine High School for the Arts (PHSA)
Tish Hautea (b. 1988, Manila) makes works that play with the intersection of curiosity about individuals and their cultures with human desire. She draws inspiration from ther converations and interactions with people. Currently based in Melbourne, her art practice centers on printmaking, mixed media, carving on wood, and etching on various surfaces. She has exhibited her artwork in Australia, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, South Korea, and Thailand.
Fara Manuel (b. 1982, Manila) explores traditions and expands art practice through explorations in print and intermedia. Her teaching career spans over 12 years, specializing in art theory and practice-based research, photography, and geohumanities. She has worked with various institutions such as the Cultural Center of the Philippines and the University of the Philippines in Baguio to realize artworks and exhibitions.
Gabi Nazareno (b. 1991, Cebu city) actively exhibits works across the Philippines. She graduated Mass Communication in the University of the Philippines, Cebu (2011), before completing a BFA in Studio Arts (Painting), from the University of the Philippines in Diliman (2017), where she was awarded the Dominador Castañeda Award for Outstanding Thesis. She was also a recipient of the President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo Award for Outstanding Achievement in Culture and Arts in 2007.
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