Denise Weldon and Tom Epperson at Art Fair Philippines
PHOTOGRAPHERS Denise Weldon and Tom Epperson are once again sharing a booth in this year’s edition of Art Fair Philippines. Better known for their commercial work, Ms. Weldon and Mr. Epperson will present fine-art prints in Rooted and Sand Series, respectively, in a space designed by Migs Rosales and Team Caramel Creative Consultancy.
Rooted continues where Ms. Weldon’s previous suite of horticultural specimens left off. Taking the place of last year’s banana blossoms (puso ng saging), Mexican turnips, luffa gourds (patola), lemons, and white squash are black radish, celeriac, taro (gabi), ginger, and white radish.
“To me, they are beautiful sculptures not formed by human hands. These gifts, glorious and gorgeous in their earthly amazingness, come from deep beneath the surface. They are root crops, full of nutrients and minerals, grown in and then pulled from the nutrient-dense soil of Mother Nature,” said Ms. Weldon in her artist’s statement. “Oven-baked by the ultimate source, they are birthed into their simple spectacularness, exposed to a quiet pressure that forces their growth to move from their seed form up.”
Mr. Epperson’s Sand Series, meanwhile, was inspired by the song “Ventura Highway” by the band America. Struck by the lyrics “Alligator lizards in the air, in the air,” Mr. Epperson did a little digging and found that the line was based on the true story of two brothers on a family road trip down the California coast. As their father dealt with a flat tire, the two boys amused themselves by calling out cloud shapes in the sky.
“It got me thinking that at what point in our lives do we lose our childlike wonder and imagination?,” said Mr. Epperson in his artist’s statement. “Somewhere along the line, we as adults have forgotten what it is like to be a child — to see the beauty in the simple things that nature provides us. My concern is that we are destroying the planet at an alarming rate and if we keep up at our present pace, these very simple things we take for granted may soon disappear.”
What the sky is to “Ventura Highway,” the beach is to Sand Series. Mr. Epperson, an avid surfer who has carved waves all around the world, presents formations drawn on the shore by wind and water. “I love seeing the world through a child’s eye,” said Mr. Epperson, whose son jumpstarted this series. — SLM
