Recognized as one of the leading contemporary photographers in Southeast Asia, Wawi NAVARROZA (ACC 2008) is known for her distinctive colorful bricolage and cross-cultural artistic language that explores themes of female identity, regional culture, and the essence of photography. Wild at Heart, her latest solo exhibition will be unveiled at Fotografiska Shanghai.

This exhibition showcases works from Wawi Navarroza's recent series, including As Wild as We Come, Tropical Gothic, and Neo-Tropikal Tapestry, alongside fabric installations derived from her works, offering an immersive experience for audiences.

At the core of Navarroza’s practice is the idea of the female creator. Through self-portraiture and the use of her own body as an artistic medium, she challenges conventional narratives of femininity. She incorporates textiles, interior décor, and handmade craft into her photographic compositions, addressing the significance of women’s work and its potent meanings. Her work is not only a redefinition of female identity but also a bold expansion of artistic expression.

Born and raised in Manila, educated in the West, and have lived in Madrid and Istanbul, Navarroza’s transnational background infuses her work with both global perspectives and Asian contexts. Her large-format, tableau-style compositions blend self-portraiture with rich visual symbolism, reflecting the fluidity of identity, the nature of photography, and the convergence of regional cultures.

Wild at Heart will highlight her signature explorations on the literary “Tropical Gothic” and a post-colonial hybrid that oscillates between tradition and modernity, craft and mass production, the local and the global—challenging fixed notions of cultural representation.