a priori / a posteriori

As a fine beam of light enters a space and bounces off a surface, it casts multiple layers of shadows. Here, light in its perceived form is the primary pictorial source that produces meanings and other possibilities. Its visuality and visibility take the form of illuminations, gradations, reflections, and refractions in Rhaz Oriente’s first solo exhibition a priori / a posteriori.

Oriente gives definite form to something immaterial. The pieces are installed from different levels—suspended, wall-bound, or placed on the ground– illuminating and deflecting to generate shadows and silhouettes on the walls. Images are then produced through the interplay of light and shadow that appears to be fluid or is deployed to be geometric. 

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lightness of being 2, 2022, UV ink print on acrylic glass, 22.5 x 16.5 in (56.90 x 41.91 cm) (unframed), 24 x20 in (60.96 x 50.8 cm) (framed)

lightness of being 3, 2022, UV ink on acrylic glass 16.5 x 22.5 in (41.91 x 57.15 cm) (unframed), 20 x 24 in (50.8 x 60.96 cm) (framed)

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lightness of being 1, 2022, mirror installation, dimensions variable

The series of works titled “lightness of being” comes full circle after exhibiting iterations of them in the video room of the gallery in 2021. She presents an entire body of work that echoes a philosophical idea that is then translated into expressions of transparency, infinity, and void. “I want them to feel [like] they're in a large, endless space, not suffocating. To feel like [living] inside a dream, but I'm not sure yet what emotion I would like to depict, but even if it's just an empty feeling, it's still a valid emotion, maybe?,” says Oriente.

Oriente acknowledges that emptiness or void may be considered as the ultimate meaning of an existence, an idea, or an emotion. Both concepts of light and lightness in the exhibition, whether the former or the latter, reveal Oriente’s attributes as an artist that continuously inform her art-making: built up in layers and yet still capable of offering delicateness and fragility.

Words by James Luigi Tana