Things That Came To Light

Almost two decades ago in 2003, Gary-Ross Pastrana held a solo exhibition of works done entirely in collage at an independent art space in Quezon City. These were small works on paper, which steadily accumulated since his time as an art student. Most of them were part of his own personal regimen and process, and were for his own use and amusement. Since then, Pastrana has shown his collages in more than twenty different shows, all over the world. Moving forward to this year, marked by a global pandemic and localized lockdowns, Pastrana has found himself working in another art space–this time, in isolation, and in a studio at Calle Wright, Malate, while the rest of the world’s art programs and exhibitions have seemingly come to a pause. This compelled him to confront more intensively this material left at his disposal—his usual respite from more conceptual work—his paper cuttings, his collages. They became for him, during confinement, the moment’s medium.

-CL