Adventure, often alluded to exposing oneself to the wonders of nature and experiencing the world with open eyes is seemingly put on hold amid the COVID-19 pandemic. In his solo exhibition, “Still”, Multimedia Artist Lee Caces reassesses the meaning of adventure in a time of isolation, exploring and questioning that adventure is not merely a journey to the world’s wonders, but also a contemplative study oneself, drawn from moments and realizations of life during and prior to what is now known as the New Normal.

In his exhibition, Caces employs a sense of fluidity and lightness as raw, contrasting, and calculated brushstrokes take center stage in his works. His main piece and triptych (“Glide” and “String”), feature waves that harken back to his experiences with the sea. Apart from having particular standards in aesthetics, Caces pushes this thought by emphasizing that every stroke in his works exhibit the feelings of anxiety and hope he has experienced in the past year. “Pocket”, a series of 4×4 inch paintings, serves as small ‘pockets’ of nature that are charged by the joy and purity nature brings, as well as the hope Caces wants to extend to his audience.

While the world has been put to a pause, life will keep on moving. “Still” is a reminder to see good amidst all the bad, and to acknowledge and accept that some bad will always lie in all that is good. To be still is human; and to move forward like the ebb and flow is nothing but a sign of inevitability.