Codependence

" Codependence "

Oil on Canvas

30" Diameter

2022

This piece is about the unwavering devotion that couples exert in order to insert each other into their lives. It depicts a man whose emotions take up all the space, leaving a woman to bend and contort in order for the circle to accommodate them both.

"Tato Yap is a former Civil Engineering student turned Fine Arts student. After his mother's stage 4 cancer diagnosis, he was pushed towards a new career path. He has been selling commissioned portraits for 14 years now and aspires to break free from that mold. He is currently venturing away from replicating the outside form of the world to capturing the essence of the objects he paints. The figures he creates are rendered distorted due to the micro-expressions of his subjects turned macro — the same way his sensitivity to the needs of his sick mother magnified each of her expressions. Their parts bloat - fighting for air - in a space increasingly shrinking."