Tea sommelier and visual “healing” artist Rachel Ngan Dueñas recently launched her second solo show, titled “Country of Flowers” at Galerya Amalia in LRI Design Plaza, Makati.
Rachel Ngan Dueñas’ recent solo exhibit, dubbed “Country of Flowers” features her trademark “healing art” that embodies a cathartic release of emotions restoring one’s mind and soul.
Even before her brushes touch the canvas, Dueñas’ art already eases the heart. As a tea sommelier, she organizes tea meditation sessions with friends and clients. These therapeutic gatherings guide participants to unwind and immerse themselves in their thoughts over a warm cup of tea.
Dueñas was recently in Paris, France for Fashion Week, wherein she held a private tea meditation session for various personalities who worked behind the scenes on the numerous events held that week. Here, all their pent-up stress from work melted away through these meditations.
It is from these sessions that Dueñas embraces all of their inner pains and anxieties, reshaping them after as elegant paintings, which art critic Cid Reyes describes as “seemingly naive in execution, but quietly expressive.”
“Country of Flowers” was encouraged and made possible by Reyes himself.
Visually, Dueñas’ style is inspired by the likes of Gaugin, Monet, and Matisse; emotionally, her work is described as cathartic and uplifting with a joyful naïveté. She expertly wields color to help weave stories untold within our respective psyches, like our internal conversations with ourselves, fellow people, nature, and God.
One of her featured pieces in the exhibition is “The Grotto,” which was inspired by a shrine built underneath the salt mines of Poland. It isolates the vivid and lush grotto that is situated amidst the dreary cave; an oasis of color and a place of rest in a bleak representation of work and stress.
Another featured piece is “Sorrows Crossing,” which depicts accepting your sorrows as a way for the world around us to unfold. Visually, it is adorned with vibrant strokes eliciting a morose emotional aura.
Dueñas’ paintings and more will be on display at Galerya Amalia until Oct. 29.
