STATEMENT

In my paintings, I draw on visual codes of landscape as a means of exploring the various cultural signifiers, which have informed my personal history as a first generation Filipino American. Each piece consists of hundreds of two dimensional paper constructions that are adhered to a wood panel creating a larger image. The paintings are built by first collecting multi-colored packaging from Filipino snack foods. This serves as a materials palette. The found papers are then cut into thin strips and meticulously woven together into geometric and floral shapes.

The focus of using cast-off elements is to offer an elevated or renewed life to materials that are otherwise thought of as detritus. This also operates as a foil in counteracting the corporate mentality by using unconventional materials.

Weaving was passed on to me by my father who was a professional weaver in the Philippines. He taught me to use these techniques as a form of meditation. Cultural influences combine to make a vibrant, patchwork of colors that recall both natural and digital environments. While each painting has its own direction, and each part of each painting has its own raison d’être, cumulatively, a choreographed abstraction is realized where the whole becomes much greater than its parts.