Exhibited: Singapore Tyler Print Institute (STPI), Ronald Ventura: Recyclables, Singapore, November 17 - December 15, 2012 Singapore Tyler Print Institute (STPI), Paper Pushers: Methods & Materials (Group Show), Singapore, March 1 - April 5, 2014

Literature: Ventura, Ronald, Adele Tan, and Clarissa Chikiamco. Ronald Ventura: Recyclables (Exhibition Catalog). Singapore: Singapore Tyler Print Institute (STPI), 2012. Published to accompany the exhibition of the same name at the STPI from November 17 to December 15, 2012. Fullcolor photograph and painting description on page 40.

ABOUT THE WORK

“Did you ever stop to notice This crying Earth, these weeping shores?” —MICHAEL JACKSON,“EARTH SONG,” 1995 “We are constantly reminded of it. In the newspapers, on TV, on the Internet. “The world is collapsing around our ears,” sings Michael Stipe in one of REM’s songs from the album “Out of Time.” The signs are all there. Global warming. Terrible floods. Strange weather. Some species following the way of the dodo and becoming zoological footnotes. Diminishing resources. The only thing missing would be signs in yellow ochre-and-black telling us that the end of the world is nigh. Unless. We. Do. Something. About. It.” —EXCERPTS FROM RONALD VENTURA’S “ART AND NATURE’S REVENGE,” IN “RONALD VENTURA: RECYCLABLES” I nto the Woods 2 is one of three works Ronald Ventura created for his 2012 show at the Singapore Tyler Print Institute (STPI). Just recently, Into the Woods 3 was successfully auctioned by León Gallery in its 'The Spectacular Mid-Year Auction 2023.' Titled 'Recyclables,' Ventura's show at the STPI elevates nature—its formidability, haunting fragility, and eventual unforgiving wrath—as the ultimate protagonist. Into the Woods 2 and the other works in the exhibition showcase Ventura's versatility and experimentality. According to its website, STPI is "committed to promoting artistic experimentation in the mediums of print and paper and has become one of the most cutting-edge destinations for contemporary art in Asia." Since his association and work with the STPI, Ventura "has consciously created artworks that would resonate with the theme of conservation and how urgent it is to address environmental concerns," as he puts it in his artist's statement, "Art and Nature's Revenge," published in the 'Recyclables' exhibition catalog. He sees the STPI as "where materials can be reused and recycled into even better, more ecologically-sound materials for making art." In his Into the Woods works, Ventura mixes paper casts and frottages rubbed from his collection of indigenous woodworks to form an enchanting image of a tree inhabited by flora and fauna cast from his diverse assemblage of wooden articles. The result is both a remembrance of nature's benevolence and a warning of its overpowering retaliation principally due to capitalist exploitation—that mercenary socio-economic order. There is an indigenous-like character weaved in the work at hand. It resembles a sacred tree held in utmost reverence (and, at the same time, feared for its unforgiving wrath), in which people gather to venerate nature and its gifts and all the creatures that live within the circle of life. By using recycled paper as his base, Ventura weaves inspiration from indigenous practices, gaining knowledge from the very heart and soul of one's motherland. The artist celebrates and promotes indigenous peoples' understanding of how human lives are inherently tied to the land and environment. These peoples have been practicing sustainability and have established harmony with nature, taking only what they need and thus, allowing the Earth's natural regenerative powers to occur undisturbed. Ventura espouses that creativity and sustainability are not mutually exclusive; both sustenance and cultural/creative expressions are tied to the environment's welfare. Into the Woods 2 pushes us to return to our roots—to go back into the woods, in which paradise lost is regained and all creatures extol the virtues of the living world, existing in melodic concordance. (Adrian Maranan)