THE PERILS OF THE PROCESS
Works by Jared Yokte

In The Perils of the Process, Jared Yokte pulls back the curtain and allows us to peer inside his creative life. Composed of 15 paintings split into five categories, his work shows us that art-making – romanticized as mysterious, undecipherable alchemy involving muses and sparks of genius – is a juggling act, just like any other occupation.

Yokte, whose practice has spanned more than a decade and different locales in the Philippines (from Davao City in the south and Vigan City in the north), has learned to balance the demands of his artistic life and his personal life.
The Perils of the Process might be described as “meta-autobiographical”: it outlines the process of its own creation (“Initial Disruption,” “Conversation and Sentiments,” “Self, Time, and Proportionality,” “Progress and Debate,” and “Seeking Creative Status”) while telling an abbreviated version of Yokte’s current life.

Resembling anatomical drawings flayed of flesh, Yokte’s signature striated human figures perform mundane tasks, engage in familial discussions (serious and otherwise), and steal moments of solitude in The Perils of the Process.

Situated in the artist’s personal space, this collection of paintings finds seeds of meaning in the smallest cracks and crevices of domesticity. The private realm is a recurrent theme that appears as early as his debut solo show, which featured “eccentric images of the Filipino family.”
The “peril” in The Perils of the Process, according to Yokte, is the failure of an artist to recognize that the so-called interruptions in one’s artistic life can actually serve as inspiration. -ll