Dwelling Place

What are the places and persons we call home?

Noel Elicana’s latest solo exhibit explores a very personal take on what one might consider as habitation, where one finds a sense of identity and belonging, of familiarity and comfort. Going beyond the concepts of space and place, the exhibit looks into both location and persona: location as a metaphorical perimeter where one’s imagination is free to roam and contemplate realities outside and reflections within; the persona as both emphatic Self and Other creating a symbiosis of belongingness and security.

To highlight this sense of location and persona, there are elements of the whimsical and the fantastic in the art. Images and metaphors from spirituality, religion, myth, and narrative are portrayed in vibrant and colorful iterations. Figures and faces in varied poses punctuate the art with a profoundly humane and child-like touch, displaying the lighthearted vibrance and hopefulness of life. Phantasmagorical flora and fauna play backdrop to this human drama, serving as both landscape and bridge to connect the cast and characters in the scenes.

In these works, Elicana’s imagination runs wild, projecting a sense of uninhibited selfhood onto the canvas while also exuding a deeply spiritual understanding of the world around him. The artworks overflow with his artistic technique: layered upon a background of abstract expressionist splatters of oil paint are figments of his imagination, visualized through sundry and small details of image, form, and pattern. These minutiae become the elements of his visual storytelling: the canvas becomes Elicana’s storyboard, on which is birthed a genesis of worlds, insights, and relationships kept dearly hidden in the artist’s mind, one he considers his own dwelling place.

As if to mirror the vastness of imagery and insight that Elicana offers, the viewer—in perusing the artworks—is likewise invited to reflect: What are the places and persons one calls home?