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"Alias Sergio Pila"
The first panel —Bapor — revolves around the manong generation, the pioneering Ilocanos who boarded Hawaii-bound ships in Port Salomague in Cabugao, Ilocos Sur. The artist highlights the Ilocano people's determination to seek greener pastures, because life in the Ilocandia was hard.
"Alias Sergio Pila" recreates a page from the photo diary of a migrant Ilocano worker, featuring snapshots of the artist's great-grandfathers and friends. The central image is of her great-grandfather Lucio Quitevis, who had to use his uncle Sergio Pila's identification papers to travel aboard S.S. Cleveland in 1925 because it was too expensive to secure one's own. Surrounding images include those of his best friend Marcos Queddeng and their friends Doming and Fortunato. These images are based from their actual photographs taken from 1930-1931, preserved in Tatang Louy's photo diary. Also included are the artist's imagined bond between her great great-grandfather Benito Flores and his brother Roman, who travelled to the United States of America in the 1930s.
The artwork features an heirloom inabel blanket with the now extinct design of dinapat that was exclusively woven in Tatang Louy's hometown, Caoayan, Ilocos Sur. The practice of weaving dinapat stopped, either because the knowledge and skills needed to weave the dinapat was not passed down or because other "sell-able" inabel weaves were favored. This shows the importance of passing down family stories and skills in order to preserve and document cultural histories and artifacts.
The panel interplays the artwork with the travel trunk used by Tatang Louy when he came home in 1932. Beside it was his actual coat, and inside were his suits. The documents are images of his boarding pass in Sergio Pila's name, and those of brothers Benito and Roman; of travel manifestos and census records; and of love letters between Tatang Louy and Nanang Atting.
The second panel — Bakwit — plays around the movement and chaos resulting from the Japanese occupation in World War II. The artist highlights the feeling of uncertainty, fear, and panic amidst the forced evacuations done to flee from the foreign invaders.
"Tiempo't Gubat" (Disruption, Destruction, Deconstruction) recreates the war experience of the artist's grandaunt Rosita Dawi-Abundo and her younger siblings, and of other Ilocanos. Like rats, they scurried around and furtively hid in small places. Amidst the disruption of their lives and the ensuing destruction, the Ilocanos managed to survive by deconstructing their livelihood tools, including the upright handloom and its paraphernalia, brought these to where they evacuated, and reconstructed them for their use.
The artwork features an inabel blanket with holes brought by rat infestation. The woven patterns are of kinarakarayan (river) and sabong-sabong (flower). The artist intentionally framed the zigzag pattern to make it look like a mountain range. Interviews with elders who evacuated yielded stories of fleeing to the nearby mountains and rivers to seek shelter and safe spaces.
The panel interplays the artwork with a solihiya chair used by the family for decades, damaged by use and neglect.
The third panel — Unang Yugto — focuses on the repetitive square or rectangle shapes of passport photographs, canvasses, and capiz windwos. The artist highlights the occurence of generational identity in diaspora, as 100 family members across six generations lived and live in 11 countries in four continents in the past 100 years.
"Kinatao" (Neither Here Nor There) showcases a hundred portraits of the artist's 99 relatives and of the artist herself. The individuals span six generations of the Agustin-Melegrito, Pascua-Dawi, Vergara-Flores, and Fama-Quitevis families — the oldest generation with the artist's great-great-grandfather Benito Flores and great-great-grandmothers Dorotea Evalle-Vergara and Teodora Quibal-Fama, and the youngest generation with her second cousin's son Ryan Lorica Jr. Individual portraits are painted on inabel coasters from the family collection, while group portraits are painted on mini canvasses.
The artwork features an heirloom inabel blanket with square motif to further replicate the four-sided shape of 1x1 photographs.
The panel interplays the artwork with the capiz window. As the window represents a glimpse into one's home, passport photographs provide a glimpses into the identities of people in their travels.
The fourth panel — Bagong Milenyo — reminds the young generation that the present is the product of the past, that our lives today are influenced by the decisions made by our ancestors. The artist highlights efforts of the young generation of Ilocanos growing up outside the Ilocandia to re-connect and re-member themselves with the Ilocano community.
"Siak ni Luce, nga anak ni Faye, nga anak ni Vilma, nga anak ni Lucio" (I am Luce, a child of Ilocos) gather 11 members of the artist's family from different decades of migration movements in the past one hundred years, book ended by her great-grandfather Lucio Quitevis who went to Hawaii in the 1920s and the artist herself as she researches her family's history in the early 2020s. Between them are the artist's great-great-grandfather Benito Flores who went to the United States of America in the 19230s, grandaunt Rosita Dawi-Abundo who evacuated during the Japanese occupation in the 1940s, grandaunt Celestina Quitevis who went to Metro Manila for her college education in the 1950s, granduncle Expedito Flores who left for the USA in 1968, great-grandfather Silesio Flores Sr. who migrated to the USA in 1979, grandmother Marcelina Dawi-Melegrito who worked in Hong Kong starting the 1980s, aunt Marilyn Melegrito who followed her mother in Hong Kong in the 1990s, mother Faye Q. Flores-Melegrito who moved to Marikina City when she got married in 2003, and uncle John Louis Quitevis who went to England for work in 2010.
The artwork features an heirloom inabel blanket made of table napkins with the dwellis weave design; the usual practice of the Quitevis family was to sew together the extra pieces of table napkins from their inabel business to make blankets for the family's use. Much like the patchwork of table napkins gathered into one big fabric, the artist's four key families form a patchwork of Ilocano legacy.
The panel interplays the artwork with the cabinet of Tatang Louy. Inside are garments from different members if the artist's family through the years.
Thesis Videos
Original Exhibit Site 3D Scan