For Bacolod-based artist Dennis Occeña, the state of oblivion is necessary for artistic creation. In A Matter of Oblivion, a solo exhibition, Occeña comes from a place of uncertainty where he imagines and illustrates scenarios that are often strange, eerie, and frightening. Intensely sketching his subjects with either distorted or disfigured bodies, these figures appear to be isolated in spaces, caught in the act of contemplation, showing great distress or void of facial expressions.

The series of sketches and studies are scenarios imbued with an air of melancholia and grim. The cold melancholy is reinforced by his use of charcoal on paper, enveloping the figures in rich velvety blackness, giving impressionistic, almost abstracted qualities in his drawings. His approach to creating positive and negative spaces through shading– the enhanced contrast of light and dark filling up the entire available space on paper– further conveys the otherworldly as another realm of the unknown.

In one major drawing of Occeña, a young man is portrayed looking at his reflection as if examining his own appearance: his nakedness reveals a lean frame, bony back, and an encroaching bald spot. The blank facial expression and his stares imply not only the lack of any strong emotions, but also how the young man may be oblivious to his own present reality. However, it is the other way around for the viewers of the works who are made fully aware of their own feelings of anxiety and despair when confronted by the creeping sense of dread. In Occeña’s A Matter of Oblivion, the viewers were never oblivious. In this stark contrast of bright and dark elements, the artist continues to acknowledge the presence of light— a hopeful sign that warrants a little optimism, of a boosted spirit. There’s beauty and inspiration at the core of Occeña’s body of works.

The otherworldly as another realm of the unknown.

Text by James Luigi Tana

Curated by Norman Crisologo