To honor childlike enthusiasm and to tap into the purity and freedom of childhood can be considered to be a form of quiet rebellion. It’s a lot like stopping time to grasp at these ephemeral bits of joyous bits of wonder. In To Catch a Cloud, Kim Borja, Addy Debil, Farley del Rosario and Keiko Yokoyama  examine with humor, fantasy, play and poignant hindsight what it means to yearn and long while journeying onward .

A little bit vexed and a little bit melancholy, the character in young artist Kim Borja‘s work is in a stupor of  almost inscrutable emotion. With a flicker and a blink, pink turns into teal and lavender into sea foam green.  Luminescence is set against the inky void, its daydream glow a rebellion against a darkening of the night.

Addy Debil celebrates the awkward with effervescent arrangements of reptile heads, contorted limbs, sneaker-soled feet and slinking checkered serpents caught in a flurry of upbeat exclamation, which remind us that indeed, to be awkward is human—and a truthful. His bright compositions urge us to tap into the purity of childhood, when nary a care nor concern for superficiality burdened life and living.

In Tokyo-based artist Keiko Yokoyama‘s work, a singular rag doll reincarnates itself time and time again—it may have seen better days, but it’s worn limp limbs only underscore the fact that it was loved, doted on, and showered with affection. She paints an object which symbolize security and comfort to many, and her depiction acknowledges pain and vulnerability.

The signature style of Farley del Rosario’s work are peppered with references borrowed from the lexicon of pop culture, film and even art history. Amidst a cast of characters (is that Borat?) art history’s most famous woman of mystery, Mona Lisa, is given an offering in the form of a Murakami-style multicolor flower while nearby, a wide-eyed Sesame Street-esque creature rides the iconic Jeff Koons chrome-blue Balloon Dog. In these otherwise strange yet humorous pairings, we are carried into a universe of the whimsical and the strange, where humor is indispensable for survival.

Curated by Liv Vinluan