This is my first art exhibit for 2018. A group exhibit in Cebu City Philippines hosted by 856 Gallery which was participated by both local and international artists. This year's theme was entitled 'Tropical Escapism'. From the organizers words themselves:
"Examining the stereotypical western gaze towards the tropics as a place that people escape to. The concept of the "tiki bar," where stepping into the "tiki bar" transports you away from your present spatial reality. Conversely, there is the notion of escaping from the tropics to find economic "paradise" in the West. Inspired by the tropicalia movement in Brazil during the 60's and 70's we seek similar goals of producing ideas, theories, and aesthetics that allow us to claim our interpretations of tropical."
As an overseas Filipino worker, my tropical escape has a different perspective. Here is my take on the theme:
Magic Carpet Ride
(artwork title)
If I have a magic lamp which could grant me any wish I want, you'd expect me to wish for unimaginable wealth and riches, all the money in the world and never have to worry about tomorrow or work for a single cent... just like most people would probably go for. But fantasies are fantasies unless you want to live in them and make a reality of your own. Lured by the promise of a golden future, shimmering castles, and a genie in a bottle I jumped into a magic carpet ride to the land of the desert. It was my ticket to achieving every Filipinos dream: an escape to poverty. But as mysterious as a genie in a bottle may sound my future held just as much. Golden veils cover not just the women's faces, the walls and the floors of this mysterious land but it does the same to the window of opportunity that I took a chance upon. I had a glimpse of that future, I lived it somehow but sometimes, the wind takes us somewhere else, where reality awaits and an unexpected future lies beneath. I am still gliding in this magic carpet ride in my very own tropical escape.
Process photos
From ballpoint pen to digital pen.
