A video series (1 of 3) part of my undergraduate thesis (and ongoing) project where I investigate more into my Filipinx-American identity.
I'd visit home and ask my mom to help teach me how to speak Tagalog again within the timespan of making this; the gesture intended to represent my homecoming to a heritage I have pushed aside for so long in order to assimilate.
I lost my ability to speak Tagalog when it was my first language as a kid. My parents recall when I first entered preschool, my class nor my teacher had no clue what I was saying at all lol. From then on, I observed my growing inability to comprehend the Tagalog spoken to me while I made sure I spoke English to my best ability in order for things to roll smoothly (especially in a predominantly White town like mine).
I thank my mom so much for giving her time to helping me create this. I don't know if she fully understands the depth of why I'm investigating so much into our heritage but this work means so much to me as it reveals an even bigger picture of the complex immigrant/multicultural experience that needs amplifying more than ever.
Grateful to everyone that came and hung out with us a couple weeks ago at our second annual Backyard Art Bash, hosted and curated by my group!
Presenting my latest photo book that I shared at the event, "We'll Come Back to This." An ongoing archive of the recent years that I'll always come back to reminisce or learn something new within myself in tangible, accordion-book form. Last three photos are featured in the book. Handmade by yours truly ♡
(Contact me if you're interested in a copy, they're made upon order with my smol hands so bear with me)
I haven’t visited in 18 years. I almost didn’t go. So many feelings each time I go back to these videos and (soon) photos. Also yeah, you should take that impulse trip if you can.
See you around. Ingat ka ★~(◡﹏◡✿)
Stomped on mustard.
It’s an invasive plant whose presence wasn’t around til the Spanish colonizers came here. Mustard is a big inconvenience to our local ecosystem and even more challenging to rid of now. Shoutout to PBS article “The Colonial Roots of the Black Mustard Plant”.
It’s not an overreaction that the current state of things are not okay. I’m grateful for my people and hope you’re also finding time to be with community. Take care of each other, stay informed and support your local grassroots orgs doing work on the ground.
***Test shots from what is now my personal Mamiya (eeeek thanks a bunch, Blake!)***
Hiiii. I’m stoked to announce and invite you all to my first solo art show, Balikbayan, opening this month! Special thanks to @no.outlet for curating the show and including me in their curatorial journey 💕
OPENING RECEPTION: (UPDATE!!!)
POSTPONED TO Thursday, November 14
6-8pm. Artist Talk 7pm.
Pink Flamingo Gallery
HM (fka HSS) 129 @ Moorpark College
7075 Campus Rd
Moorpark, CA 93021
(Across the Music building and PAC)
‘Balikbayan’ in Tagalog translates to “returning to the country/motherland” and I wanted to reflect on my personal investigative journey coming back to my Filipino roots, being a first generation Filipino-American and daughter of immigrants. This is a project that will be lifelong for me and be the most heartfelt to work on. There’s a lot of ideas and dialogue I want to engage in so this show is just a fraction of it.
Maraming salamat (thank you) to my loved ones who’ve helped me with this show so far and to anyone’s who’s just been a friend to me on this art journey. I hope to celebrate with as many of you next week :)
Flyer design by @no.outlet
Please join us for the closing reception for “Home Within Yourself,” curated by Emilia Cruz at the Boathouse Gallery at Plaza de La Raza on July 19th from 5-9 PM. Boathouse Gallery Hours are Monday-Saturday from 9AM-5PM. Admission is FREE.
About the Artist: “Saan ka nagmula? Where are you from? Is the respective Tagalog and English title of this work. These photographs reflect on how my upbringing in a predominantly white suburb prompted me to assimilate. My parents would always recount the memory of my rough start at pre-school when neither my classmates nor my instructor could understand the Tagalog I only spoke and their confusion when I couldn’t comprehend English. When my parents’ colleagues or distant relatives would ask the classic Filipino diasporic question “Marunong siya mag Tagalog?” (Does she know how to speak Tagalog?), my time in pre-K is brought up to illustrate how I once understood and spoke my mother tongue until I no longer could. As a child, I yearned to be accepted by my schoolmates and teachers so my solution to being fluent in English would accomplish just that. The local park I stand in holds significance in American pop culture as it was the backdrop for movies and TV shows in the 1940s. I stand on the now concrete foundations in the park, remnants of outdated Western American fictions and am reminded of where I grew up. When people I met from the area ask where I’m really from, it reinforces an internal belief that my presence does not belong here. I dreaded coming back to down but now have recognized the necessity to take up space along with the importance of honoring and uplifting my heritage and of fellow marginalized communities.”
-Kat De Guzman
These art pieces are not for sale. @plazadelaraza@katdgz #plazadelaraza #art #lincolnheights
Hi friends, you’re invited to “Home Within Yourself”, a group art exhibition opening next Friday the 21st in Plaza de la Raza’s Boathouse Gallery in Lincoln Heights, CA. This show is curated by the talented and cool art homie @cruzemilia !! I’m flabbergasted yet grateful to be given this opportunity and to also show work alongside another hometown homie @lugubrez . It means so much to share space with my friends and to celebrate with them 🌹
See ya next week? Exhibition is up until July 19.
P.S. if you’re 805 local and can’t make it out to LA, I also have the same works shown lowkey at the Simi Valley Library now til end of July.
Art in the Park, June 2023.
This was such a qt and precious gathering that I got to help put together with some of the coolest girlies in town. MAJOR credits to @lugubrez for even putting out the idea to do this event hehe. Also don’t sleep on her art 🗣️
I’m always proud of my art friends and down for their ideas. Here’s to more fun + cool stuff to be a part of together in the upcoming year and beyond 🌟
All photos taken with the Hasselblad on Kodak Ektar 100. Individual portraits by me and a huge shoutout to my bb @j_isabeles for helping take our group portraits 🫡. Last slide is the cyanotype demo I did with my friends at the gathering 💕
