MAY 25 - JUNE 19, 2021

CATHARTIC SPELL

ZEUS BASCON / DENVER GARZA / EPJEY PACHECO

Artery Art Space is pleased to present works by Zeus Bascon, Denver Garza, and Epjey Pacheco in “Cathartic Spell,” exploring eccentric figuration and psychological narratives on creative rituals and the invention of self, through drawing and painting, performance and photography, textile and craft.

Employing beautiful intricate patterns that evolve into organic design depicting figurative form and flora, Epjey Pacheco creates a narrative composition that details palliative measures necessary to cope and offer comfort with everyday trials and tribulation

Denver Garza’s unique abstractions are translations of alterity inspired by the alchemical symbol of fire signifying purification and transformation, which he explores through three different formats of drawing, textile, and assemblage.

In your work for the exhibit did you use any type of symbols to relate to the world we live in today?

Denver:  The presence of fire has been a symbol of both positive and negative aspects of living in this time. I felt more sensitive but also motivated to do better. Recently, I was dealing with hives (starting early this year), which pushed me to be more mindful of my physical well-being.

Epjey:  For the series na nilabas ko sa show I felt drawn to nature, yung flower/vines in my head naisip ko changing of seasons, ephemerality of life, fragility, quiet strength, nung pinipinta ko sila ang tinitingnan ko mga halaman na tumutubo sa concrete.

Zeus:  For the Dead Mask installation, it was very straightforward - dealing with loss and the frustration of not knowing where I am right now and the anxiety of losing sense of balance in the present, it just made me cry a lot in the past months, and painting them is one way of exhausting these emotions. In the photographic iterations, dealing with these issues stayed within the intimacy during the process. The participation of the characters as subjects for the photographs are enough representations of what may have been going on with the person during the production of the shots, the person's being as to relate to what may have been the case for everybody else. And the setting of the beach, as a compelling emotive scene.

In creating these symbols, art can be a catalyst for various types of cathartic experiences, which makes them unique in their expression although very specific. Is it still a goal for artists to be understood through their work, knowing that we have other media today that are way much better for seeing and knowing about things in life?

Zeus:  I think artists don’t have much control on how their images can be understood, and I’m okay with that. The making of these artworks comes from a process of introspection and I think that was most important on these pieces. And what we see are just images. It's just a matter of allowing oneself to have the time to look at an image, and it's for the viewer to choose. I am used to telling stories about my works so much up to the point of explaining. I am not sure how effective it is though, and what kind of gain will I have from it really. I just thought of it merely as sharing.

Denver:  I do feel appreciated despite the limited exposure as a result of the pandemic. I am also concerned showcasing works online as it could not justify the depth and details of the work I present. But nevertheless, it does not detract me from making interesting works and finding new ways to improve my practice. Learning to adapt in presenting works via social media is still a learning process for me.

Epjey: Naniniwala pa din ako that the work will find its intended audience. I don’t think na nung ginagawa ko sila may mindset ako na I’m competing for attention. Or that I’m trying to cater my work para madaling maintidihan. hindi rin ganun ka calculated ang approach ko sa pagpipinta. I just do what I want to do, tapos bahala na kung ano yung magiging reaction kase wala naman na akong control dun.

Do concepts about Beauty or Identity and otherwise that may figure in your work?

Zeus:  Definitely. In these works I tried dealing with queerness and what it means. Through the transitions/transformations in form and subject, there are so much to observe from the harness worn in Clear Break/Insomnia, which were actually some of the masks featured in Syokoy 2. All three images where characters set at the middle of the setting, the varying poses from being dynamic to being still, from back turned to fully embracing sexuality (Mga Sireynas). It is with working with Carla and Jam that I got to learn so much about trans-women and the courage they have to be in our society.

Denver:  Identity, yes. With beauty...maybe? (Haha) I always like to express complex emotions and ideas, with the artworks focused on confronting and accepting change as a step to move onwards.

Epjey:  I guess so? although yung definition at mata ko for beauty is a bit bent, but yes for sure beauty lalo na yung identity, lumalabas talaga sa gawa ko, personally i cant help it, so much of me is always in the work. Other issues? hmmmm di ko alam eh, kusa na lang dumadating sa akin kung ano yung next na gusto kong imbestigahan.

Incidentally nature’s presence can be seen in the work, would this have meaning for you?

Epjey:  Well totoo naman much of my work is derived from what surrounds me. I find nature fascinating, ang complex niya, limitless source siya for inspiration, although I’ve never rendered nature realistically, laging filtered through my imagination.

Denver:  I do seek beyond the human presence, and nature has been helpful in expanding -ideas and dynamics that enriches the visuals of the work.

Zeus:  I enjoy best working outside the studio. I feel more in sync. Whenever I get a chance to work with water elements or even fire, i will! I also referred to tarot cards for Clear Break/Insomnia. I always try to get a sense of the place, before understanding where I am placed and how I can move, in able for me to start getting a sense of the self and continue on producing images. 

Would there be a bit of the political involved in your use of craft and even performance, arguably considered to be marginal practices/practices on marginality, that dictate the representation of the body and its psyche?

Zeus:  I think my art practice is mainly based on the curiosity to try out various materials and way of making things. I am not sure of it could be political, but continuing my practice and allowing me to be presented in various platforms helped me to get confidence that how I make things is okay. And if it helps younger artists to not feel anxious if they are doing it right or wrong, maybe it could be political in the sense being released from systematic notions and standards of what could be beautiful and valuable. 

Epjey:  Craft vs. art? di ko na din masyadong iniisip yan to be honest, for me my practice relies a lot on learned skill, repetition, mastering a technique, a process. Daan ko lang sila para magawa ko yung piyesa na gusto kong gawin. Its not meant to oppose accepted norms, means ko lang siya to get where I want to be work wise. I dont mind if my work will be labeled as somewhat political sabi nga nila everything is political naman. It informs the choices we make. Kung lumalabas siya dun sa trabaho at nakikita siya as such then so be it.

Denver:  The variety in my work and practice is important as it expands my means to express myself and reinvent a lot of things I've done throughout the years. I think the word creative has been lost throughout the years in the context of advertisements, marketing or even in the academe, with the association of being creative as a positive thing. In real life, creating something different, unique or undefined is seen as negative, challenging and easily dismissed by the majority. I do recognize my work to be marginal in comparison to most, but I do not intend to challenge them in any way, it's just my most joyous and genuine way of expressing my world view.

Do you follow a certain routine, if not ritual, that becomes part of your process and, as if by magic, adds to the over-all aura of the work?

Zeus:  I like to think my works are charged. In one of my past writings, I used the word conjure. My works have many layers in it and I feel it touches many aspects of my life also. But these images I presented will not be possible without the acceptance of the characters to be present in the process of introspection that I shared with them during the production. During my residency in Emerging Islands, one major thing we got to conclude is how others can genuinely relate to my process of producing an artwork, by sharing with them a stage, wearing the costumes and masks that I fit into mine, and allowing each other’s vulnerability to flow.

Epjey:  Oo naman. meron pa rin palagi. yung kaba at excitement ng empty na canvas or papel, di parin siya nawawala. Sacred ritual? nasabi ko na din kay Denver at Zeus too in our random conversations yung pagsusulat ko ng words inside the piece, di sila makikita specifically sa piyesa but I have had that habit of putting words in the work na naoobscure din naman nung details. In my head naiimagine ko parang may energy lang yung salita na nagmamanifest sa piyesa Yung idea ng transformation I think perfectly describes my process, laging nangyayari sa akin yung may idea ako sa utak ko na trabaho na kapag nilatag ko na at ginagawa ko na constantly nageevolve at nagbabago hanggang sa lumayo na pala siya dun sa nasa utak ko, but somehow it feels right for that work. 

Denver:  Brewing fresh coffee every morning is my ritual before ruminating and working in the studio. Transformation has been one of the core themes of my work, and has a huge influence from my previous career as a mental health worker. Being exposed to different walks of life, various degrees of problems, and seeing minute incremental positive changes to their emotional well-being has made me more sensitive even on my own personhood. Transformation yields a lot of possibilities that I tend to reflect on its themes and topics, and so does the physicality and materiality of my works follows through with it.