Spirit of the Wild

Our earthly encounters mirror the delicate balance between the fragility of relationships, the traces of memories that linger, and the constant flow between endings and new beginnings. This interconnection echoes the symbiotic relationship between humanity and nature, where each moment of closure or continuity reflects the interdependence of both worlds. These natural cycles shape our personal experiences, probing a dialogue between inseparable human existence and the ecological.

Central to Spirit of the Wild is Abe Orobia’s reflections on life’s materialities. For this series, he continues to use aluminum sheets from discarded oil paint tubes, folding and crumpling them, pondering on human vulnerability and natural processes, shaped by forces of growth, decay, and transformation. Works from this exhibition feature the artist’s rendition of what lingers in every day - these often overlooked natural circumstances - from transitions of withering landscapes that cue their eventual flourishment to vivid renditions of animals in their natural habitat and ecosystems suggestive of survival, continuity, and transformation.

In Up and under we hover and Kites they fly, the artist probes textural details of tree barks, revealing gnarled, rough ridges etched by time, and in dark, weathered contrasts against pristine white patches of snow. Subsequently, Light within us and Through twists and turns we live, reveals autumnal scenes characterized by a tapestry of warm hues, carpeting the ground with a blanket of fallen leaves, that rustle gently in the breeze. All these uncloak impermanence and transition, are suggestive of a cue to anew. On the other hand, Active Encounter, among the three seemingly related imageries from this series, shows two cheetahs in grasslands, with dense vegetation, suggestive of our earthly encounters.

Perhaps the spirit of the wild lies in the transitory qualities of the quotidian, whether about humanity or in natural phenomena. Ultimately, Orobia’s allegorical allusions and symbolisms invite the viewer to contemplate the shared resilience of humanity and nature. Works from Spirit of the Wild are not just two-dimensional interpretations of the artist but also his meditations on the mundane, being complex yet delicate, begging an inquiry into the interdependent relationship between humanity and nature. By using repurposed aluminum sheets as components, the works embody the tensions between decay and renewal, triggering a commentary on life’s cyclical nature.

Words by Alain Zedrick Camiling