SINGAPORE.- Shifting Grounds brings together MM Yu, Is Jumalon, Clarence Chun, Jonas Eslao, and Kristoffer Ardeña—whose practices stretch the boundaries of form, texture, and perception. These five Filipino contemporary artists present works that reflect abstraction as a dynamic field of tensions; between intuition and structure, depth and surface, personal memory and collective history.

With abstraction no longer confined to formalist purity or expressive gesture, it is now perceived as a fluid and adaptive language–a mode of inquiry as much as aesthetics. Across diverse processes, the artists in the exhibition engage in an ongoing dialogue with materiality.

Mastering the seamless integration of process and form, MM Yu’s ‘Drip Paintings’ draw attention to the sensory impact of the medium using rhythmic color and movement. The works present the fundamental, raw elements of painting–color, form, dimension, and most notably, gravity.

Is Jumalon’s layered paintings navigate states of flux—weaving fragmented forms and layered textures that evoke intimacy and ambiguity. Through subtle interplay of mark making, Jumalon’s works explore displacement, personal history and fluidity of perception.

Reflecting a deeply personal abstraction shaped by geography and memory, Clarence Chun’s compositions are informed by a life lived across coasts and cultures, with bodies of water used mostly as the central metaphor in his practice. Using fluid gestures and rhythmic forms, Chun constructs visual fields that echo the movement, depth, and unpredictability of water.

Jonas Eslao investigates the quiet complexities of form, atmosphere, and perception through a minimalist yet deeply intuitive approach. Working with textile, Eslao treats fabric not only as surface but as structure—layering tone, texture, and for inviting prolonged, attentive looking.

Often working with everyday materials, such as discarded canvases and gathered fabrics, Kristoffer Ardeña’s works are often marked by visible seams, stains, and textures. An indication of prior use, these seemingly minor details depict embedded histories to resist erasure. Interrogating material and place in his body of works, Ardeña approaches abstraction as a space of cultural and historical reckoning.

Collectively, Shifting Grounds presents how abstraction continues to evolve as a responsive and reflective practice. Each gesture, surface, and texture gives way to transformation—affirming abstraction’s relevance and how it is deeply grounded in lived experience.