Goodbye to All That

POELEEN ALVAREZ

Poeleen Alvarez, Meditating on things human, all too human, 2020, Collage, Size variable approx. 51 x 32 in (129.54 x 81.28 cm)

Meditating on things human, all too human (or, as the learned phrase goes, ‘psychological observation’) is one of the means by which man can ease life’s burden… (Nietzsche)

The uncertainty of our material conditions and long-term isolation prompted (read: forced) me to reconnect with my inner macrocosm – a landscape I have actively avoided heretofore. I had always been one to preoccupy myself with work in order to avoid confronting my emotions, but since the pandemic pulled the plug on life as we know it, I’ve been forced to take inventory of every single emotional limb I possessed. This shift enabled me to let go of things and relationships that no longer nourished me. My work takes inspiration from Taoist ink paintings that served to remind and teach humans that we, and by extension, our follies, are but indistinguishable fibers in the fabric of spacetime.”


 

Poeleen Alvarez (b. 1998) is a visual artist who lives and works in Bulacan, Philippines. Her collages and intermedia works draw inspiration from the visual culture and rhetoric of popular media. With an inclination to art history, her work is heavily influenced by theories on appropriation, visual communication, and Rod Paras-Perez’s concept of the Filipino Baroque – the aesthetic affinity for boisterous colors and gaudy ornamentation. Her practice is informed by her training in printmaking, ceramics, and the digital arts. Alvarez received her BFA in Painting (2018) and Art History (2020) from the University of the Philippines, Diliman.

Previous
Previous

Pin Calacal

Next
Next

Raha Rodriguez