As is often the case for him, Dennis’s previous works seem far removed from his current pieces. Fresh from graduating as an advertising major at the Technological University of the Philippines’ College of Fine Arts, his earliest works incorporated mostly found objects, which he owes to the industrial background of his school. Compared to more traditional oil or acrylic on canvas, Dennis felt that such sculptural or mixed media pieces better translated his favored themes of environmental and, oddly enough, women’s issues, which, incidentally, frequently recur in his paintings until today.

(Notably, environmental issues, for Dennis, referenced not so much the grander gestures but rather the smaller, individual, and ultimately effortless contributions that people could and should do to help—such as tossing a piece of garbage in the trash rather than on the street. His observations of women’s issues, which are close to home but inevitably coming from a kind of outsider’s perspective, resonated a measure of sympathy for the plight of women trapped by poverty or the extremes of a patriarchal culture. As one who is easily moved to tears, he also empathizes with the others that are inevitably involved, such as abandoned children and estranged families.)

Dennis eventually shifted into surrealism, where he found he was inclined to printmaking, mainly for the texture and volume that it gave his works. Interestingly enough, it was only in printmaking that the abstract artist felt comfortable creating figurative and representational forms, since with the more conventional mediums of painting he always felt he could not create such works without somehow referencing the western canon and aesthetic. For him, it felt contrived as an artist to create figurative imagery that argues a kind of Filipino-ness, when he himself has had such little discourse on the context of the aesthetic that it draws from.

On another level, his resistance to figurative work also comes from his own sentiment that he is unable to create a sense of originality—for lack of a better word—with it. On a personal level, he is preoccupied with the feeling that all he might want to attempt has been done before and cannot be created without direct attribution to a source, which he notes to be markedly different from a sense of mere influence. Even in trying to deviate in terms of technique, he finds himself unable to play around without referencing an existing style or piece.

In his abstracts, conversely, Dennis notes that he is able to find a measure of invention or uniqueness, if you will, especially with regard to technique, as well as a more coherent, consistent aesthetic. Dennis slowly shifted into abstract in 2006 (although, under strange circumstances, was initially challenged to go full time into abstract because of caustic and apparently uninformed remarks of more senior figurative and representational artists, saying that abstract art did not merit as much thought or effort as other styles). Dennis’s early abstract works featured experimentation with bolder, more solid and defined shapes and forms—which are starkly different from his visibly collage-like mixed media and decoupage recent pieces. Playing with material and medium, he has found his own combination of styles which afford him a level of play that does not feel affected, and consequently allows him a kind of freedom to explore technique and aesthetic.

With Influence, his works both hark back to his inclinations to mixed media techniques, but at the same time also remark artists such as Eugene Jarque and Lexygius Calip whom he greatly admires and who have somehow, ironically enough, influenced him. There is a play between inspiration and innovation, as Dennis attempts to reference the works of the other painters while not copying them. His larger pieces, such as “Erode” for example, show reference to Eugene’s works, although are, as an obvious example, without the metal pieces that are visible in his pieces.

Dennis plays with a number of textured materials that range from canvas to bandages to vinyl floor tiles. He also attempts to create his own textures not just with oil and acrylic, such as the impossible perfect circular holes in the paint layers of “Compound.” Created by the natural repulsion of oil and water, such techniques, among others, allow Dennis to create details that help further differentiate his works from that of his influences.

Influence runs at the Big & Small Art Co. at the 4/F SM Megamall Bldg. A until October 9. Call 0917-374653 for details.