If you are anywhere in the vicinity of Philadelphia and possess an affinity for plunging into surreal, beguiling, lush alternate universes, do yourself a solid and head over to Arch Enemy Arts for the epic, wondrous exhibit of hometown fine artist and designer Paul Romano — probably best known to extreme music fans for his work with Mastodon, The Red Chord, Hate Eternal, and a raft of others.
Though the show, “Boundless,” runs through June 19, the closing reception is tomorrow (June 5) from 6:00 to 10:00 PM and will feature four new works and an exclusive limited print.
Here is Romano’s artist statement:
As with all my work, [Boundless] is a mixture of personal experience and how these relate to broader archetypes that most people encounter throughout life. Symbolism plays a huge role in my work, whether it be through palette, a figure’s gesture or expression, an animal, flora, a historical figure, and so on. I am not as interested in reality as I am in the ideas of it in imagination. While I use realism as a vehicle, the works are more about evocation rather than accuracy. Boundless does have a leaning in the melancholy, contemplating ideas of one self through tribulation and loss and then, what remains. What is left is hopeful, the vastness of one self, not defined by outside perceptions, or objects, or a place, or a relationship. Flora appears quite often in these works. The meaning could be as simple as hope and growth, beauty but sometimes for myself these growths are cancerous. My use of it is more paradoxical than clear cut. The works are a way of me asking questions of myself.
