ODD ONE OUT (2024)
Everybody just wants you to stand still, do this, wear that—just fit in and be part of the homogenous mass that makes up society. Any deviation is met with disdain or desperate pleas to fall back and not stand out.
But what happens when you refuse to stay within the lines?
Visual artist Lee Caces comes into his own with Odd One Out. As with many of his works, Caces takes inspiration from flora and puts a vibrant twist with the use of blues, pinks, purples, and yellows in contrast with the bold use of black. In each piece, the viewer’s attention is drawn to a standout feature among an assembly of similar elements.
Caces wields eccentricity as a weapon for good. With every stroke of the brush, he injects new life and good energy into his environment. Through this collection, Caces demonstrates the beauty and courage in being weird.
Written by Maxi Bautista
EVOLVE (2023)
Every cycle begins and ends in breaking down and breaking through, making space for transformation. With Evolve, multimedia artist Lee Caces reflects on his progress–his response to different stimuli.
In this collection of works, Caces demonstrates how taking pieces of oneself can lead to creation and expansion. He explores the concept of sharing light with others, propagating through effective execution in collaboration. Evolve is the byproduct of light shared in interactions and connections.
“Fragment” reminds the viewer to look closer at the minutiae to discover vulnerabilities presented in vague and subtle ways. A privilege granted only to those who care enough to look past one’s facade.
Caces celebrates abundance and fulfillment in “Trimmings.” He cleverly makes use of the small space to mimic the energy felt in participation and communion.
At the core of it all is “Break Through" in which Caces weaponizes dynamic forms to depict a sense of freedom and bliss in pushing past the blocks that hold one back. Elements of the piece extend beyond the canvas, weaving through and making contact with the other works. An acknowledgement of how we learn and grow through the joys and pains of existence.
Evolve is an exercise in integrating different versions of oneself. It is a call to accept change, to welcome what lies beyond the now.
Written by Maxi Bautista
CO-EXIST (2023)
Confident, graphical, and rendered in exuberant colors, the works of Lee Caces in his solo exhibition, co-exist, sustain and amplify a type of abstraction rooted in organic forms and conversant with the larger visual culture. For the artist, who works in a variety of media, has also applied his sinuous shapes on murals, sculptures, apparels, and packaging, either as a stand-alone feature or integrated with other design elements. The viewer, however, appreciates Caces forms closest to their originating impulse in paintings, which are three-dimensionally expressed by the wall-bound wood sculptures.
As the title suggests, the exhibit underscores the symbiotic relationship between humans and nature. At its core, the show revolves around the epiphyte, a fascinating group of plants that have adapted to survive in the most unexpected of places. Epiphytes are often referred to as "air plants" due to their unique ability to obtain nutrients from the air and rainwater, without being anchored in the soil. This gives them a unique resilience, as they are able to survive in conditions that would be inhospitable to other plants.
In the context of the show, epiphytes serve as a metaphor to humans keen sense of adaptability and their inherent resilience, traits that were in full display recently. With our resources and mobility constrained, especially during the height of the pandemic, we developed new hobbies, such as cooking and cultivating plants. Soon, those who brought little pots of life in their homes started knowing their names. They learned how to properly care for their green companions. Just like this newfound connection, Caces invites the audience to consider the ways in which we, too, are part of a larger ecosystem.
co-exist, while it is no doubt a visual feast for the eyes, is an exhibition that celebrates life in its splendidly diverse expressions: the outlines and forms that approximate the natural world, the riotous, vibrant colors, as well as the vitality with which Caces has painted his works. Teeming with youth, energy, and exhilaration, the works acknowledge the centrality of growth. grounding, and gratitude for a peaceful co-existence to transpire.
Curated by Carlomar Arcangel Daoana
STILL (2021)
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 4x4 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.
Curated by James Luigi Tana
Written by Viktor Tejada
PIVOT (2020)
Life is a series of branching paths and choices—like a Choose Your Own Adventure book, only if you don’t like what you get, your do-over will always have remnants of what came before it.
Every breath, every step, every action for every second that goes by turn into the past, yet all of them were once present, and your own present is in your control. And this present, this very moment in time, can be a spark of life or death—a beginning or an end—or rebirth, the miracle created from something that should have withered away, depending on what you choose.
Your life is the sum of a million and one variables. An endless wave of choices and possibilities. Opportunities for success as well as failure. Wisdom and epiphanies, both infinitesimal and world-shattering. People and influences—the good and the bad. Unseen domino effects from every nuance in between every thought, touch, sigh, smile. An infinite number of instances, all of which form the fabric of who you are and what you leave with the world.
Every breath, every step, every action for every second that goes by in this very fleeting present is a fork in the road towards the future you’re weaving—the question is: which way will you go?
Written by Jean Abrodo
HORIZON - an exhibit about personal growth (2019)
As human beings, we always crave constant development. We work hard to an extent that we burn ourselves out—and this hunger for growth can lead to negativity that makes us lose focus on what really matters. Though through time, should we choose to allow it, these experiences and challenges mold us into better versions of ourselves.
The idea of success is to constantly push yourself and climb that metaphorical ladder. Going hard and always moving; giving everything that we tend to forget to rest. Rest that is so crucial to our systems and everyday existence.
The pieces of this show remind us to stop and observe—to find stillness in our day to day activities to see things from a different perspective. To realign our thoughts for clarity to prepare for our next move.
Be still for a moment and align yourself.
Written by Cai Maroket
"FLOW" -First Solo Exhibit (2018)
A Collection of abstract expression inspired from journeys through nature and the self.
This exhibit is about absorbing the essence of nature and utilizing it to help him accept life's many transitions and channel these elements for growth —both as an artist as well as a human being.
Written by Robert Reyes
