About Filipina

My Filipino parents both immigrated to the U.S. just after the 1965 Immigration Act passed. They met in the elevator of their D.C. apartment building; she lived with her roommates on one floor and he lived with his roommates on another. They got married and found a house in the Maryland suburbs to raise me and my younger brother. My hometown was still all farm land back then, and I still remember walking beside my dad with a wheelbarrow to pick up cow dung from the local farmer to use as fertilizer in our backyard garden.

 

Growing up, I learned how to switch back and forth between being more Filipino when I was home with my family and being more American when I was at school. I learned how to quickly read the unspoken social rules in the room and observe how other people interacted with each other so I could adapt to the environment. I learned to switch from one identity to another so I could connect better with my family or my friends.

 

When I graduated from college, I asked my parents to send me to the Philippines so I could visit our family and learn about our family history. Seeing where my dad grew up on a farm in Pampanga and where my mom grew up Manila helped me appreciate what it took for them to come to America. In Filipino culture, kapwa is the idea that there is a shared sense of identity and unity with others, including my family, my larger community and even the environment. In the Philippines, I saw firsthand the kapwa that my parents left behind, not just the people, but also the histories and a the sense of belonging to something greater than just yourself. 

​

My work explores my developing sense of kapwa through a series of sketches inspired by my daily walks in my local neighborhood and the Denver area. I capture my immediate and spontaneous responses to my environment by using various mediums, including watercolor, ink, pencil, and crayon. Working quickly, I use color and shape to capture my responses and push the tension between abstracted emotions and represented reality. My ultimate goal is to develop a collection of sketches and paintings that reflect the story behind growing and maintaining my kapwa here in Colorado over time.