Indy Paredes’ art practice is situated under a close understanding of the physicality of Filipino urban culture, most especially the dynamics of living and creating in residential spaces in congested areas in the metropolis. He examines the interrelation of his perception of constructions in private and public spaces and his study of the individual’s ways of negotiating with it through experiential output in the form of large-scale site-specific sculpture and installation.

Paredes’ main influence and reference is his observation of the general attitude of middle-class Filipinos towards their immediate environment, and how their temperament and livelihood affect the way they build and interact with their spaces. He insists on not limiting his work to a metaphorical reading, hence he chooses to present a type of staged experience that is bound by his use of materials found on actual sites- materials that are consequential to the framing of a specific vantage point. This perspective is notably refreshing since the artist acknowledges a reality that many Filipinos consider severe and visually unsatisfying.

His work then is a coherent visual description of the foundation of the mental processes that describe the ethical and social considerations of being a Filipino who is struggling with the demands of maintaining a decent life. What does one use and what does one take away? What are the processes by which materials and situations are maximized? How does one choose to build his walls and not be perpetually inconvenienced? These are some of the artist’s concerns, and his aim is to present multi-sensory experience through visual work based on his continuing investigation of the local culture and the Filipino psyche.

Indy Paredes (b. 1988) took up painting at the University of the Philippine, Diliman. He has participated in a number of exhibitions and has shown work at 1335MABINI (PH), Galleria Duemila (PH), West Gallery (PH), Tin-Aw Gallery (PH), and Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris (FR).