Naomi Mendoza | Crystal Tranquilino
January 28 — February 9, 2023
White Walls Gallery
Warehouse 12A La Fuerza Plaza, 2241 Chino Roxes Ave 1233 Makati, Philippines
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Taking inspiration from Hieronymous Bosch’s ‘The Garden Of Earthly Delights’, Naomi Mendoza and Crystal Tranquilino revisit their experiences dealing with humans’ insatiable desire for more and explores the consequences borne out of these actions.
In ‘After Eden’, real and fantastical creatures mingle. With macabre skulls that allude to death and snakes tightly wrapped in their own body–struggling to get out of their looming, self-imposed death–Mendoza takes us through her experience of understanding betrayal and dealing with a bizarre sense of pain and longing. “Things go from once a very loving and peaceful relationship down to their demise with just one selfish act. And yet, somehow, we still never learn”, Mendoza writes.
Her use of dark, delicate imagery combined with pastel colors – a recurring quality in her compositions, offers us an otherworldly approach to understanding the recesses of our humanity that are not always visible to the naked eye.
Following the progression of Bosch’s triptych paintings, Tranquilino depicts her tale of actively fighting societal norms on women using elements lifted from Bosch’s painting. A serpent crawling on its belly, fish drowning in murky water, and eyes that are strangely so wide open, they seem to see through the deepest of one’s being. The gaping holes central in each of Tranquilino’s works create voids, but separately, these also serve as mirrors to those willing to look: reminding us that while we are constantly fazed by judgment, we are ultimately defined by what we choose to see in others.
‘After Eden’ highlights the ability of these two women artists to use their chosen medium in conveying messages that tap into the deeper side of our human condition.
They tell us what we have always known but have never learned: Because we refuse to understand, we are fated to repeat the mistakes of our history. From the creation of the universe to the demise of morality in society today–the human condition is, and will always be, the same.
Notes by Regina Reyes
