WET PAINT

Wet Paint by Elaine Roberto-Navas
Curated by Roberto Chabet
October 27, 2010, Wednesday
6-9pm

SLab is proud to announce Wet Paint by Elaine Roberto-Navas, curated by Roberto Chabet.

Roberto-Navas, a Singapore-based Filipino artist, debuts in SLab with a painting show all about water, inspired by photographs of the River Thames taken by artist Roni Thorn. Thorn "depicted the different moods and portraits of the river"; and Wet Paint is Roberto-Navas' own version.

In Wet Paint, Roberto-Navas recreates water's many moods and faces with her characteristic use of impasto, the technique of laying on paint thickly. The thick crusts of greens, blues and the faint wisps of white allow the water's ever-changing character to surface. But the changes are subtle.

On a series of rectangular canvases, she paints one section of the river. Each documents the shifts in the current, every new swell, each new foam tip, and the constant shift of light. The water fills the entire canvas. No background and no added details. It’s as if Roberto-Navas had a camera herself; she chose a particular spot, zoomed in, and took a series of photos of that one spot. Looking at her work is like looking at a magnified filmstrip. But it too has its classical references.

To her, her work is “a modern equivalent of what Monet was trying to do – painting the same scene and observing minute by minute changes.” Reminiscent of Impressionist painting, Roberto-Navas’ “landscape” stands out. Though rich in color and movement, her works also evoke silence and calm. There is a sense of depth and history from within. A collector of Philippine contemporary art describes:

“One other thing about water - they are present and always changing but also ancient and permanent. The face of water is different each second but it is the same water the River Thames that the French, Romans, Vikings, and primitive man saw. Eternal but ephemeral. One of the great paradoxes of nature.” (M. Samson)

Wet Paint is dynamic. Not knowing where the water begins nor ends, where it swells or pulls back, where it has come from or where it is headed raises curiosity and ultimately, awe.

Wet Paint runs simultaneously with Blind Field: Photography and Place curated by Wawi Navarroza in Silverlens and August by Maya Muñoz in 20SQUARE until November 20, 2010.

For inquiries, contact Silverlens Gallery at 2/F YMC Bldg. II, 2320 Pasong Tamo Ext., Makati, 816-0044, 0917-5874011, or manage@silverlensphoto.com. Gallery hours are Monday to Friday 10am–7pm and Saturdays 1–6pm. www.silverlensphoto.com / slab.silverlensphoto.com.

Words: Bea Davila; Image: Elaine Roberto-Navas, Law of Causality, 2010