Floating Through Space and Time
Twenty-one years ago, my family moved from the Philippines to the United States. Last year I became a citizen. The process of expatriation and application for U.S. citizenship has led me to explore American representations of Filipinos. Using the complex relations between both countries in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s as a model, I look to address notions of identity and perception.
I have responded to these complexities with the following series of drawings that address various facets of representation: propaganda, anthropological display, duality, and romanticism and nostalgia.
These drawings explore how identity (cultural, political, and personal) becomes obscured due to lack of contextualization. Based on photographs from the early 1900’s, the characters in the drawings are deliberately extracted from their original context. Additionally, by drawing on a small scale and omitting, blurring, or fading some features, I encourage the viewer to more closely investigate how lack of information shapes/misshapes one’s perception of another’s identity.
Propaganda and Anthropological Display
In 1904, the World’s Fair in Louisiana highlighted the United States’ efforts to “civilize” the people of the Philippines and present the economic potential of the island chains' natural resources on the heels of the Philippine-American War (1899-1902). Full-size replicas of “primitive” living quarters, equipped with live Filipino "natives” who inhabited them were on display and made to perform acts such as hunting competitions and dog feasting during scheduled times throughout the day. The drawings in this group are based on photographs and posters from the World’s Fair.
Romanticism/nostalgia
The “Philippine Pavilion” of the 1904 World’s Fair presented several Filipino groups as anthropological displays to the American public, influencing their impressions. However, other significant Filipino groups entered U.S. soil during this period. Laborers were brought in to work the sugar cane fields of Hawaii, canneries of Alaska, and the farms of California. Through the U.S. government funded Pensionado Act of 1903, Filipino scholars arrived in the United States to earn college degrees. The figures in this group are taken from periodical and personal photographs of laborers, scholars, beauty pageants, and scenes of everyday life in the Philippines and US in the early 1900’s.
Duality
During the Spanish-American War the United States employed Filipino troops to fight against Spain. Colonized by Spain for over 300 years, Filipino soldiers fought alongside Americans with the hope of gaining independence. In 1898, after the war, Spain ceded the Philippines to the US under the Treaty of Paris. Resistance against United States control of the country led to the Philippine-American War in 1899. War ensued for several years, but the United States eventually gained control and made the Philippines an autonomous commonwealth in 1935. During World War II both countries fought together once again, and the Philippines was granted independence in 1946. The drawings (and 1 photograph) in this group reflect the conflicting portrayals of Filipinos, concluding with a self portrait that creates a dialogue between the past and today.
