Wawi Navarroza's photostream

WAWI NAVARROZA is a young visual artist from the Philippines working with the medium of photography. She graduated with a degree in Bachelor of Arts (Photography) from De La Salle University, Manila (2002). As a student, she received De La Salle University’s José Rizal Consistent Dean’s Honors List award. She was mentored by acclaimed contemporary artist/curator/educator Judy Sibayan.

She also finished a Lighting Design masterclass by prominent¬¬ Japanese lighting designer Shoko Matsamuto. In 2005, she was given scholarship by the Angkor Photography Festival to train under French photographers such as Magnum-member Antoine d’Agata.

Navarroza’s photography translates abstract concepts into symbolic portraits and visual poems. She explores mindscapes and everyday evidences of the archetypal as seen through the prism of personal experience, all in silent pursuit of mapping out the Self. Her imagery stands with the backbone of myth, poetry, and song. Storytelling and narrative are common in her works. The dark and brooding melancholy present in her tableaus are direct mirrors of her musings on the ephemeral nature of things. Her portraits are both disturbing and subtle at the same time; the photographic experiments and hand manipulation on monochrome film extensions of her philosophies.


She has exhibited a number of exhibitions, two of which are the award-winning solo exhibitions: “POLYSACCHARIDE: The Dollhouse Drama” (2005) and "SATURNINE: A Collection of Portraits, Creatures, Glass, and Shadow" (2007) which was cited Winner at the Ateneo Art Awards 2007, the Philippines' premiere award-giving body for Filipino contemporary art. She also held a special exhibit in July 2007 showcasing a collection of new works titled "Santa Frida: 100 Años Entre Nosotros/100 Years Between Us" in homage to Mexican painter Frida Kahlo's birth centennial on appointment by the Instituto Cervantes de Manila. Also in the same year, Navarroza held a masterclass as a guest artist at the Fotomasterskie Petersburgskie in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Outside the Philippines, Navarroza has exhibited in Malaysia, Cambodia, Singapore, Australia, Russia, and the Netherlands (Fries Museum of Contemporary Art). She has been awarded in the Philippines (Art Association of the Philippines, Ateneo Art Awards, etc.) and abroad ("Con Otros Ojos" Barcelona, Spain, Prix de la Photographie Paris, etc.)

Early this year she has just returned from an artist residency in Singapore as a Grant she received from Artesan Gallery. She currently finished two solo exhibitions at the Artesan Gallery (Singapore) “When All Is Said and Done” and at the INSEAD (Singapore) “This Is What She Told Me” in celebration of Women’s Month.

In January 2009, Navarroza will be in New York City to embark on a personal art project as this year’s recipient of the prestigious Asian Cultural Council (New York)-Silverlens Foundation Fellowship Grant.

Her fine art photographs are collected by individuals and institutions in the Philippines, Cambodia, Singapore, Russia, France, Finland, Switzerland, and England. Some of her images appear in the art book "Delve: An Exploration of Visual Culture" (New York) and in coffee table books "EPIX Best Images 2005" (Manila) and Aurora Borealis' "Noorderlicht: Another Asia" (Netherlands).

The artist is represented by Silverlens Gallery (Manila), Artesan Art Gallery (Singapore), McDermott Gallery (Cambodia) and ArtReflex Gallery (Russia).

Apart from fine art work, Wawi also contributes to major magazines and publications in the Philippines doing portraiture, fashion editorials, and conceptual tableaus. She also does private sittings for private clients.

Wawi is also the singer of a rock band called The Late Isabel, currently recording their second album “Imperial”.


// July 2008