The Wilderness Within

“The Wilderness Within” is Richard Perez’ portrayal of the deeply inhabited; a place embodied by living things in the changing cycles of life. Intimate encounters with the “otherness” of nature is the core inspiration of the exhibit, with the works serving as visual sanctuaries for this awareness.

For Perez, nature is an extremely complex web. His use of threads represent interconnection and interdependence, a symbolical gateway to the transmission of a particular state of mind. The strings also represent a unification of ideas between perception and inner experience, a synergy of consciousness towards a sense of place-- whether imagined, remembered, or real. The artist’s latest works focus on natural lines found in the wilderness, creating fluid movements which describe the processes occurring in nature. His choice of material acts as a guide to an elaborate subject matter, beginning to abstract and build information by following the contours of ground, plants, rocks, and water.

In this imagined wilderness, Perez pays quiet homage to the energy and forces that allow him passage along a trail. For the artist, the wilderness he created is both a place of beauty and respite from chaos, equally humbling and enlightening which he intends to share with the audience. Richard Perez is a visual artist hailing from Bicol. Perez served an in-house artist of Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar in Bagac, Bataan for four (4) years. He then returned to Bicol where he paints in his studio in Naga, Camarines Sur and conducted several art tutorial and workshops specially during summer seasons. He has done commissioned 3D wall murals in Metro Manila, Bicol and recently in Agusan del Norte, Mindanao.

Perez has received several awards from both international and national competitions. He was a finalist in the 2012 GSIS National Art Competition and an honorable mention the following year, both for the non-representational category. He was also a finalist in the 2015 AAP (Art Association of the Philippines) National Painting Competition, a finalist in the 2016 Manila Bulletin Sketchfest, and was the 2015 Best in Mixed Media Awardee in "Tune of Art" International Art Festival in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Recently, he became a finalist for the 2019 GSIS National Art Competition mixed media category. Richard Perez has participated in more than fifty (50) group shows in the Bicol region and twenty (20) group shows in Metro Manila.

“The Wilderness Within” by Richard Perez will be on view at Galerie Raphael Shangri-la from June 15 to 26, 2022. Galerie Raphael Shangri-la is located at Level 4, Main Wing Shangri-La Plaza Mall, EDSA cor. Shaw Blvd. Mandaluyong City. For inquiries, contact +63 (2) 8941-6194 or email shang@galerieraphael.com.ph.