Trio of women shine in Silverlens’ latest exhibit
For the first time, three intergenerational women artists will be holding a group exhibition in one show, entitled “A Knowing.” The exhibition features Geraldine Javier (Batangas, Philippines), Emily Cheng (New York City, USA), and Citra Sasmita (Bali, Indonesia).
Running for around a month, from Aug. 23 to Sept. 27, “A Knowing” is a glimpse into the connection the three artists have with history and their belief in powers beyond what humans can see.
The title of the show, “A Knowing,” comes from Cheng’s book, “In the Weave of Worlds.” She speaks of the invisible connection between things: “the energy, of whatever you want to call it, exists outside the realm of the senses, while perceived nevertheless. Sometimes it is called a knowing.”
Javier, a farmer-artist who left the chaos of Manila over 10 years ago, presents one of her garden series, paying homage to artists before her who have tended to gardens alongside their practices. She will be presenting “Two Fridas” (2021), her take on the late great Mexican artist’s garden. In this work, which features elements of nature from paintings by Kahlo—flowers, fruits, plants, monkeys, butterflies—without Kahlo herself, Javier’s installation is a stage for the visitor, much like Kahlo’s garden was a stage for herself.
Cheng, a Chinese-American artist with heritage roots in the Philippines, presents a suite of landscape paintings. Cheng makes paintings of what we can feel: “the forms that feelings can take,” she says.
Here she presents a series of paintings to accompany meditation, titled “Cosmic Heads”; and a suite of landscape paintings, titled “After Shen Shichong.”
Sasmita, a Balinese artist working with Kamasan traditional paintings as the foundation for her long-term Timur Merah project, rounds this group of alpha female artists. Using the symbolism of fire for purification, water for knowledge, hair for female genealogical connections, and blood for the cycle of life, Sasmita transforms the hypermale conventions of Kamasan paintings into women’s stories.
Citra’s women are transformed into protagonists and central figures in the paintings, claiming rightful space in history, honoring the knowledge that was inherent in Bali prior to the influence of the first Hindu-Buddhist kingdoms in the region.
Bringing the three artists together for the first time, the exhibition situates them as totem poles for growing, tending, and guarding. Javier’s work is about seeding the ground; Cheng, observing the land; and Sasmita, protecting it all. There is a courage to the stick-to-it-ness of these artists and a corresponding sureness of practice.
