“Rest To Ration” is a solo exhibition by artist Bryan B. Teves, who took inspiration from the pandemic and the unexpected benefits that the situation has brought the world, despite the pain that it’s also caused— circumstances that  have allowed the environment  a moment of respite from the daily drudgery of traffic and machinery.

Teves’ life-like depictions of both flora and human figures is thanks to his use of real models to reproduce his ideas in real life before he commits them onto his preferred medium. In many of the show’s works, abundant foliage snakes around a woman, who rests peacefully with a tranquil smile on her face while embraced by the vegetation. He skilfully renders these representations onto canvas using oil paint, which he prefers because of its malleability and how quickly it dries, a quality needed to produce his smooth and fluid pictorial portrayals of bodies and foliage.

As with most of Teves’ paintings, he takes inspiration from nature, injecting a positive or negative connotation onto his renderings as he sees fit. In this case, it was the pandemic and the subsequent positive effect it has had on our natural surroundings, despite the corresponding negative effects it may have also brought with it.

With this collection, Teves communicates his hope for both nature and daily human life to return to normalcy. The exhibit’s title, Rest To Ration (restoration), serves as an ode to the way Mother Nature was given the breathing space to restore itself to its natural beauty and wonder, if only for this short moment.

— Sabrina Jeongco