Anima Dysmorphia
MIGUEL PAULO BORJA
August 3 - 26, 2022
ABOUT THE ARTIST
MIGUEL PAULO BORJA (b.1987) is a painter who lives and works in Marikina City. His works combine abstraction and surrealism, where prominent visual stroke-work is present. Gestural accidents, imperfect lines, and layers of raw emotion are part of the visual process. His works navigate between free will and automation. In his paintings, Borja examines and observes mental and emotional processes and the altered states of the subconscious. He has exhibited extensively in the Philippines and abroad in cities such as Jakarta, Singapore, Hong Kong, and London.
“Anima Dysmorphia” is the feeling of being lost in your own soul. It is the dissociation between the material world and our inner selves, brought about by the preoccupation on the former. For this series of paintings, the artist was inspired by Jungian psychology, specifically the four Jungian archetypes known as the anima, the shadow, the persona and the self. In this series, each painting represents an enigma of self and/or other. In his application of painting through layers of automatica, the artist emulates the push and pull of personalities to form one structural self. Despite their abstraction, for the artist each painting is actually a portrait of the soul as depicted through the imperfection of colors and shapes. Lines and sharp edges represent our masculine aspects and curves and soft edges represent our female aspects.
Selected works from Anima Dysmorphia
Miguel Paulo Borja, Bubog, 2022, Acrylic on canvas, 30 x 24 in (76.2 x 61 cm)
Miguel Paulo Borja, Hubad, 2022, Acrylic on canvas, 30 x 24 in (76.2 x 61 cm)
Miguel Paulo Borja, Bulate, 2022, Acrylic on canvas, 30 x 24 in (76.2 x 61 cm)
Miguel Paulo Borja, Suka at Pawis, 2022, Acrylic on canvas, 30 x 24 in (76.2 x 61 cm)
Miguel Paulo Borja, Tukso, 2022, Acrylic on canvas, 30 x 24 in (76.2 x 61 cm)
Miguel Paulo Borja, Bukambibig, 2022, Acrylic on canvas, 30 x 24 in (76.2 x 61 cm)