Rodel Tapaya Montalban, Philippines, b. 1980

Tapaya’s work amalgamates folk narratives and contemporary reality within the framework of memory and history. Utilizing a range of media — from acrylic on canvas to an exploration of under-glass painting, traditional crafts, diorama, and drawing — Tapaya filters his observations of the world through ancestral tales and pre-colonial research, creating whimsical montages of his characters.

Inherent in each work is a tension between the artist’s objective investigations of art and the subjectivity of perception and experience, producing an enigmatic space that captures the impossibility of painting a story untouched by the mark of the painter’s hand.

Exhibitions include a two person show at the He Xiangning Art Museum Shenzhen, China. His work has been acquired by the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia; The National Gallery of Australia, Canberra; Mori Art Museum, Tokyo; Singapore Art Museum; Bencab Museum, Benguet, Philippines; and the Ateneo Art Gallery, Manila, Philippines.