Rom Villaseran’s ‘Orchestra’ at Galerie Stephanie

MANILA, Philippines - Rom Villaseran presents “Orchestra” which opens on Jan. 22, 6 p.m., at Galerie Stephanie, Unit 1B, Parc Plaza Bldg,183 E.Rodriguez Jr. Ave, Libis, Quezon City. The show is on view until Feb. 7. 

Since his first exhibition at Big Sky Mind in 2002, artist Rom Villaseran’s paintings have been influenced by the landscapes of the fantasy novels he read as a high school student. The visualization of novels such as The Lord of the Rings series have been appropriated by Villaseran through a technique that uses a high-level of minute detail. In the years since that first exhibition, Villaseran’s practice has evolved into extensions of that idea, while retaining that high degree of imaginative details within his figurations.

His practice has thus distinguished itself from others through the artist’s ability to translate these creative landscapes into highly-detailed paintings. This is perhaps linked to the artist’s experience as a graphics designer throughout the late ’90s and early 2000s, creating some  of the most haunting album covers in the country for a variety of OPM acts such as Kjwan, Slapshock and Greyhoundz. However, Villaseran’s foundation is still his adherance to narrative. Growing up with the stories of Tolkein and Neil Gaiman, Villaseran uses an organic palette that largely utilizes the literary technique of metaphor. His paintings deal with subjects such as the cycle of decay and rebirth, despair, and the hallucinogenic qualities of dreams. Villaseran uses a neo-surrealist aesthetic approach that manages to create a dream-like ambiance without the resulting haze.

For information, call 709-1488, e-mail inquiry.galeriestephanie@gmail.com, or visit www.galeriestephanie.com.