Shadow I exemplifies Napay’s signature mark of placing a human silhouette within the landscape of his canvas, as a silent outline of an observer central to his concept.

 

We see a silhouette wrapped in enlarged blooms, the figure is snug against a wall of vegetation, a thick bed of soft grey dried leaves. We catch glimpses of ash and earth strewn onto this heap of dry vegetation. One can only deduce the time of year - be it spring or fall, or the beginning of an awakening.  A spray of golden grains surround his silhouette while green sprigs expand from the corner of his shoulders, and the figure poses like a stag deer with his proud antlers. Shades of green, ocher and amber leaves grow and abound on the branches, with fern like foliage sprouting from his chest. There are specks of white sprinkles twinkling in the dark. In his centre throbs a bouquet of deep reds and orange, blooms that beat even harder. Shadow I is an amazing parable, a visual poetry of our quintessence and its multitude of branches and foliage suggesting triumphs, struggles and tribulations that keeps the heart beat pounding.

Raffy T. Napay was born in 1986 in Manila, Philippines. He graduated from Eulogio Amang Rodriguez of Science and Technology (EARIST) in 2009 with a Fine Arts degree. Whilst in school, he started gaining recognition for his skill.

 

Napay originally used oil paints, until he developed an adverse allergy to the medium. Whilst recovering, he explored the potential of other materials, and explored working with the available threads and textiles at home. Growing up with a seamstress mother, Napay was exposed to a wide variety of threads, cotton and fabrics and these materials gave him a strong ground into a different world of cre…. 

 

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