In the exhibit “Creatures of Apathy,” Paul Eric Roca crafts a world where social discontent and the unsettling uncertainty of the future collide. His fantastical and surrealist works serve as haunting allegories — grotesquely twisted visions that transform the familiar into the bizarre and the strange.

Through symbols of decay, deformity and distortion, Roca conjures monstrous figures that reflect the fragmentation of contemporary society. These figures, strangely familiar yet disturbingly unfamiliar, are metaphorical signposts of a world on the brink, offering cautionary tales woven from personal experience and the daily onslaught of political turmoil.

Drawing from his perspective as a political cartoonist, Roca explores the pervasive sense of unease that plagues us. His works are steeped in the tension of an unpredictable future, where each brushstroke underscores the precariousness of existence. The chaos of ever-escalating news, the widening gaps between social classes, and the profound sense of societal stagnation all find their way into his haunting canvases.

The artist presents these “creatures” as exaggerated, grotesque forms, their monstrous distortion mirroring the very instability of the world we inhabit. The dagger, always hanging above, threatens to fall, yet the viewer is compelled to confront the absurdity of the present.

Roca’s surrealist vision is not just a critique of the times — it is a call to awareness, a reminder that the future is shaped by the choices we make today.

“Creatures of Apathy” is on view from 25 January to 22 February at the Altro Mondo Creative Space, located at 1159 Chino Roces Avenue, Makati City.