Foundation University’s artist-in-residence opened his first solo exhibit in posh Bonifacio Global City in Taguig, titled Sanctuary. It runs until Sept. 29.
In this show at Art Verite Gallery at Serendra, Hersley- Ven Casero transports us to his version of a sanctuary where the human not only communes with the natural world but fuses with it and is transformed by it, as evoked by the juxtaposition of bodies and corals, underwater creatures, and an explosion of birds.
“We cannot escape nature which is our source. Walls are meant to fall; bricks are destined to hit the ground. For nothing man-made is forever,” said Casero.
This solo exhibit references the edicts of representational surrealism which are largely symbolic and evocative of journeys — both internal and external to find oneself.
“A sanctuary is, first and foremost, a space ordained to be sacred, such as a shrine or a site of miracles and apparitions. It also refers, of course, to natural environments of such exquisite beauty that we are compelled to protect them, such as a marine sanctuary. In this place, we commune with the holy powers, untouched by the pollution, the noise, the clamor of the outside world. It is suffused with serenity and bliss. Shedding off our names and personalities, we become vulnerable and yet safe in the knowing that nothing will interfere with our peace,” Casero said.
In his exhibit, Casero transports the viewer to this kind of place–magical, eerily quiet, redolent with wonder and watery light. It is an interior sanctuary, where the human not only communes with the natural world but fuses with it and is transformed by it, as evoked by the juxtaposition of bodies and corals, underwater creatures, and an explosion of birds.
“We cannot escape nature which is our source,” said the artist. “We are stardust, the paintings seem to be saying, but let’s not forget that life has been brewed in the depths of the sea,” he continued.
In looking at Casero’s works, one is gripped by a sense of displacement from this world and, also, from the usual expectations we have when looking at paintings.
They evoke a feeling as well as a rich, varied and intoxicating mood made all the more vivid by his languid coloration–an almost-sepia tinted with the soft light of the afternoon. Despite, or because of, the choice selection of palette, the artist achieves startling effects: the shimmer of the Milky Way, the spark of underwater bubbles, the cold wetness of water on the hand of the figure in “Father is a Giant.”
Together, the works offer nuanced contemplation as we recall the various sanctuaries that punctuate our lives. They provide an escape, yes, but only to compel us to examine how far we have left behind, in our mad dash to establish societies and civilizations, our origin that is nature.
In “Transformation,” we are reminded that nature is destination as well, as signified by the skull–a memento mori.
The paintings essentially argue that we are nature, too, prone to the shift of the tides and elemental forces. Our skin is not shell but a membrane registering the caress of water, the sweep of air, the all-encompassing sanctuary that allows our every breath, every movement of muscle, every possibility of joy. (Carlomar Arcangel Daoana)