US-based Filipino artist Jana Benitez, on her recent exhibition in Hong Kong, her artwork at St Luke’s Medical Center, and what we can gain from looking within
“All the artists know we don’t make our art. It comes from within us,” states artist Jana Benitez. “We have the tremendous, humbling, insane privilege of just showing up and having it come through us.” And for the past 24 years, that’s precisely what Benitez has done—dedicating her artistry to exploring the boundless infinity of the human experience.
Take, for example, her recent solo exhibition, Wild Silence, at Pearl Lam Galleries Hong Kong. Previously open from September to November last year, the pieces shown drew from Benitez’s multidisciplinary understanding of our inner worlds—a perspective she’s refined through studies in Buddhism, Taoism, Tantra, Christianity and contemporary psychology. A representation of our rich, latent consciousness, the collection “speaks to the subject matter of embodiment, sensation and somatic awareness that have been central to my painting practice this past decade”, Benitez describes.
Benitez is particularly fascinated by the body’s natural ability to heal. Similarly, as Pearl Lam Galleries curator David Chan puts it, “Art is a tool for reconciliation and healing.” “When Dr Joven Cuanang asked me if I would be open to hanging a piece of art at St Luke’s Medical Center, I was honoured,” the artist shares. “I’ve always admired the wonderful art collection at St Luke’s. I have also been deeply interested in the connection between art and healing.”
See also: It used to be a Japanese Steakhouse, now it's Gravity Art Space
The title aptly synthesises this sentiment, with 'Wild' referring to the limitless networks of essential information within our consciousness and 'Silence' capturing the need to tune out competing noise and zone inwards to make sense of the 'Wild'. “In my opinion, we can tune into our bodies at an energetic level in much the same way that we put the radio on and listen to a specific station,” Benitez explains. “If we are tuned in just right and listening deeply, there is a vast, rich world of information there.”
“Dr Cuanang and I often discuss art and healing,” Benitez continues. “When I’m up through the night painting in Maine, and the world around me is asleep, it is morning for Dr Cuanang at his Pinto Art Museum in Antipolo. On the phone, we deep dive into ideas about collective consciousness, Filipino history, painting, ancestral trauma and strategies for alleviating suffering.”
