Project 2 Artworks

Here are 9 of the 26 works of art created for Project 2: Marginality as Resistance.
The full project description can be found just below this post.

Project 2 Michelle Medina:
“Torn Between Two Worlds”

Spanish colonization of the Philippine began with the arrival of Miguel López de Legazpi’s expedition and permanent settlement in the island of Cebu. More settlements continued northward with the clonizers reaching the bay of Manila on the island of Luzon. In Manila, they established a new town and this began an era of Spanish colonization that lasted for more than three centuries.

The image on this particular piece of art portrays a female figure that is split in half: one side wearing the common white debutante gown, and the other in a plain and simple white dress which appears to have rice as a main décor. This female represents Spain’s traditions that had spread to the Philippines due to Spanish colonization. Believe it or not, debuts did not originate in the Philippines, but in many places in Europe, for instance, Spain and France.

When the Spaniards came to colonize the Philippines, many of the Filipinos experienced a sense of oppression. Forced to accustom to the traditions of the Spanish, the Filipinos had no voice and no choice. Some Filipinos may even have felt torn between their original customs and the Spanish’s forced customs. They may have felt torn between what class they held in their society. For example, a young girl’s longing to become a beautiful princess was smashed by the harsh reality that she could never be anything but a slave and a follower.

Project 2 VG:

Project 2 ML:


Project 2 JD:


Project 2 Grace Malki:
This piece is a reflection on the treatment of Filipinos living in marginality in post-colonialism. I read a bit of extra literature on the cultural constructions of domination, difference, and otherness. In my opinion, marginality is a source of creating power and powerlessness. Along with African-Americans and Mexican-Americans, Filipino-Americans have been resisting the battle over power and unfortunately have been forced into the margins of society.

Using paper, colored pencil, watercolor, fabric, and a metal chain, I created a fiery response to marginality. I chose to depict a lion wrapped in a chain to symbolize the way the center treats those in the margin: as wild animals, people needing constraint. Of course those living in the center of society do not admit this publicly and I chose to sketch a hand giving the peace sign to represent an artificial gesture of equality. Two of the fingers are vicious snakes to demonstrate the truth and irony to this analogy. I used snakes because I believe that by treating humans like animals, the center are in turn, animals themselves. The snakes were inspired by the artist’s work seen at our trip to the I-hotel.

Those who bask in the glory of the center often consider themselves a God-like figure in which those living in the margins should look to for guidance. Similarly to the concept in Zora Neale Hurston’s novel Their Eyes Were Watching God which discusses marginality, those living in the center will not be there in a time of need. One day society will no longer look to the center for advice or guidance and their eyes will be watching God.

Project 2 JT:
outside:
inside:

Project 2 Lester Banatao:
detail:
I decided to use the story that happened in 2006 of a young Filipino child in Canada who was embarrassed and insulted at school for eating with a fork and spoon at lunch. When the mother went to the principal of the school, she was shocked by his comments referring to her son as "eating like a pig" and telling her "Madame, you are in Canada. Here in Canada you should eat the way Canadians eat."

I used this scenario to illustrate the Philippines and Filipinos wanting to fight back and resist outside forces from changing or controlling them, specifically the Spanish and the Japanese, as well as discrimination and segregation in the United States and as it turns out, Canada. The words represent the different ways Filipinos have been able to fight back against these hurdles that they are presented with and still manage to move forward, one big reason being them staying true to their values and beliefs that they have held onto for generations.

Project 2 MCC:
detail:

Project 2 Henry DeCherney: