Meet The Team.
We are Obscyra.
About
Our Concept
With the inaugural edition now completed, Obscyra has already marked its entrance into the contemporary arts landscape through an autumnal unveiling. The first release was accompanied by a three-week exhibition staged inside a former bank vault in Zürich, establishing Obscyra not only as a publication but as a spatial and conceptual threshold. This initial manifestation positioned the magazine as a site for artistic revelation, critical inquiry, and experimental display.
Moving forward, Obscyra will continue as a bi-annual publication aligned with the Winter and Summer Solstices. Each forthcoming edition will be conceived as a solstice launch rather than a conventional issue release, acknowledging cycles of darkness and illumination as structuring forces. These editions will feature emerging and established artists, in-depth interviews, visual explorations, and critical essays, with an increasing focus on obscured practices, liminal aesthetics, and narratives that resist immediate legibility.
Each solstice launch will be accompanied by a time-bound exhibition or spatial intervention. These events will take place in experimental or symbolically charged sites, transforming overlooked architectures into temporary chambers of encounter. Through this recurring rhythm, Obscyra evolves into an ongoing passage, one that moves bi-annually between descent and emergence, where art is not only presented but invoked.
Material for each edition is gathered through ritual cutoffs that mirror the solstice cycle. For the Summer Solstice issue, launching on June 21, written contributions including articles, essays, and interviews are sealed at the end of February, while the open call for artistic works closes at the end of March. For the Winter Solstice issue, launching on December 21, written submissions are sealed at the end of August, followed by the closing of the art open call at the end of September. These moments mark the transition from reception to incubation, when the contents of each edition are shaped in preparation for their solstice release.
Publication and Exhibition:
We invite you to send your applications for the upcoming summer and winter solstice editions to our email: info @ obscyra.ch
We continuously aim to look for offspaces and galleries to partner with for our magazine launch coupled with an exhibition of the selected artists. The location for the Summer Solstice exhibition is already confirmed in Basel and will be announced soon!
We will launch on June 21, on the last day of Art Basel in Gundeli Area. See you, folks!
The Team
Arlo Jake Lagmay is a surrealist artist as well as an architect specializing in pharmaceutical design and consultancy. His work bridges the rigor of architectural discipline with the expressive potential of surrealism, engaging with ideas of spatial transformation, controlled environments, and the subconscious interplay between structure and perception.
As the founder of Obscyra, he envisions a platform that fosters direct engagement between artists, collectors, and audiences, reflecting a broader shift in the art market where deeper, more personal connections take precedence. Advocating for a system that places artists at the forefront, Obscyra strengthens artistic autonomy and amplifies their work beyond institutional prestige. By dismantling the barriers that often mediate artistic discourse, Obscyra seeks to cultivate a space where artistic voices resonate with immediacy, clarity, and unfiltered authenticity—standing as a pylon between the unbound and the seen.
Emy Vicencio is a Philippine-Swiss-trained architect, artist, and professional lecturer at the National University of the Philippines. In both her academic and professional careers, she advocates for an approach that prioritizes spatial quality and precision above all. While she subconsciously carries this philosophy into her art, it is in her artistic practice that she embraces spontaneity and human imperfections as integral elements of the work.
Art and architecture form the dual pillars of her self-expression. As a curatorial partner at Obscyra, she extends this philosophy into contemporary art, offering a perspective where order and spontaneity, precision and intuition converge. Her role strengthens Obscyra’s commitment to uncovering emerging voices, fostering a dialogue that challenges conventions and expands the boundaries of creative practice.