Kathleen Gobasco Examines Vulnerability Through Hiding From Gaze

The Filipino artist turns to hands and partial body views to examine fear, privacy, and the instinct to conceal.

What is art without a bit of a struggle? This has been the case for some of the most celebrated figures in art history: Vincent van Gogh, Michelangelo Buonarroti, Edgar Degas, Edvard Munch, Mark Rothko, and Georgia O’Keeffe, Yayoi Kusama among others. Just like these geniuses, Kathleen Gobasco pursued what she does best: picking up the graphite pencil she first learned to use as a student and drawing what vulnerability looks like on a canvas. Eventually, this motivation led to her exhibition, Hiding From Gaze.

Hiding From Gaze delves into the act of undressing (opening up) that is abruptly interrupted by the gaze of an unknown person. For Gobasco, this interruption compels the individual to conceal their intended display, leading to a negative emotional response fueled by a desire for protection.

She aims to explore the reasons behind negative responses, especially the act of concealing and controlling one’s perception rather than being fully exposed. “Since a person’s character is layered, selective, and sometimes contradictory, withholding information allows for control over one’s narrative. It enables the person to decide how much of their inner world to share and how much to keep private,” she says. “Simultaneously, hiding oneself mirrors our true self-perception. No one is completely transparent, even to themselves.”

As an artist, Gobasco continues to explore the idea that negative emotions, such as fear, can still be beneficial. While she admits that fear can limit a person’s sense of possibility, it can also serve as a protective reaction, signaling a need for caution and awareness. “Emotions cannot be defined as purely positive or negative; they operate as dual forces, capable of both protecting and limiting at the same time,” she adds.

For Hiding From Gaze, she turns her focus to hands as the subject, using them as a simplified form of the human figure. She shares that among the many subjects she could use, she took an interest in hands because they can serve as part of a whole or stand on their own, while possessing a multitude of intriguing gestures and movements she can explore. Rather than depicting the full figure, she uses hands and partial body views to create a sense of space, allowing viewers to fill in the negative space with their imagination.

Gobasco also took this opportunity to reflect on an era where information is readily accessible and our lives are constantly visible on social media. She hopes that viewers who encounter her exhibit are encouraged to rethink their boundaries. “Privacy holds significant importance. By limiting what one shares or exposes about themselves, a person gains the freedom to exist without the burden of unnecessary judgments or opinions, regardless of others’ intentions.”

Hiding from Gaze is on view at Finale Art File until September 5, 2026.