Inspired by e.e. cummings’ poem, Who Knows if the Moon’s a Balloon, Isabel Roxas mounts her fourth solo exhibition at SLAB, on October 26, 2011, titled, Keen City.

Viewers will have the opportunity to view Roxas’ enigmatic work and experience her idea of a utopia that’s both fantastic and strange. Roxas describes, “It can be a place where sunshine spills over, with pretty residents everywhere and delirious flora carousing. But, grounded as I am with urban reality, my city also has a dark underbelly—a parallel world full of longing, discontentment, loneliness, and insecurity.”

Keen City is also a closer look at a current phenomenon happening in the Filipino art illustration movement, which is churning out visual works that are more diverse and experimental in themes and media. Although more highly celebrated as a children’s book illustrator in the Philippines, in this exhibition, Roxas opens up another dimension to her art and leads us into an even more whimsical world with underlying notions of the bizarre and the sinister.

For the pabalat-inspired pieces, Roxas mimics giant pastillas candy wrappers with intricately hand-cut words from Benjamin Franklin’s Poor Richard’s Almanack. The acrylic-on-linen series, called Intangible Curiosities, depicts a collection of imaginary objects that people would probably wish they could buy if only they did exist: “A Bottle of Shade For a Sunny Day,” “Sad Syrup (contents: liquid sunshine with a dash of glee),” “An Ounce of Wit,” “Comb For Smoothing Tangled Nerves,” and “A Key For Hearts That Cannot Open Themselves” to name a few. The collection recalls dark and moody Edwardian interiors and gardens, and a nod to Victorian paper crafts.

Roxas is currently based in the U.S. and works out of a studio in Queens, New York.

As a related gallery event, Isabel Roxas will be screening Spirited Away (Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi) directed by Hayao Miyazaki on November 2, 2011, Wednesday, 6-8pm at SLab.