D.I.Filipinx
Aaron Dadacay
Cirilo Domine
Tala Mateo
Maryrose C. Mendoza
Christine Morla
Chris Sicat
Maria Villote
Alluding totheDIY (or "do-it-yourself") aesthetic,D.I.Filipinx is a group show presenting seven contemporary Filipino-American artists—Aaron Dadacay, Cirilo Domine, Tala Mateo, Maryrose Cobarrubias Mendoza, Christine Morla, Chris Sicat, and Maria Villote—whose works share a handcrafted, self-sufficient approach to artmaking, as well as sensibilities that are perhaps inherent in the cultural roots of the Philippines, where invention and creativity are day-to-day constants.
While the works in D.I.Filipinxvary conceptually and in terms of media, the artists are all driven by process, a sense of exploration, and their own individual ingenuity. Additionally, each artist employs alternative materials to create, build, and exhibit transformation in their pieces.
Multimedia artist Maryrose Cobarrubias Mendoza reinterprets everyday objects to explore cultural perception. Mendoza’s oversized soft-sculptural representation of a comfort food from her childhood also depicts anxiety over “otherness” and class differences experienced during her formative years growing up in America. Alternatively, based on a native traditional Filipino tool, Maria Villote’s sculpture is a non-functional, skeuomorphic coconut scraper conveying multiple meanings.
Works by Chris Sicat and Christine Morla involve the metamorphosis of natural materials. Sicat’s redwood sculptures are obsessively and meticulously covered with graphite using hundreds of pencils per piece. With several layers of graphite, the redwood develops a silver sheen that ultimately endows the piece of wood with new life. Using both natural and man-made found materials, Morla’s labor intensive woven sculptural pieces reflect patterns from indigenous textiles.
Artists Cirilo Domine and Tala Mateo challenge us to view fabric with a renewed perspective. In a continuing series inspired by tectonic plates, Domine uses rocks found in the San Andreas Fault as a guide to create translated compositions in fabric. The intimate panoramic observations of broken lines channel what the artist feels to be momentous cultural dislocations. Mateo uses fabric and peel off mask as materials and employs the process of printmaking to investigate the idea of memory and to negotiate personal space and identity.
About the artists
Aaron Dadacay was born and raised in the bureaucratic capital of the Philippines during the discourse of one martial law regime, a successful presidential impeachment, and two distinct “People’s Power” revolutions. Dadacay explores the sculptural aspect of the human psyche as derived from cultural affiliations and personal mythologies. As a multidisciplinary artist, the term ‘work’ in relation to his artistic practice pertains to the cultural arrangements that form a person’s identity. He has a BA from UCLA.
Philippine-born, American artist Cirilo Dominelives and works in Los Angeles, where he engages the genres of drawing, installation, and mixed media. He received his BA from UCLA and his MFA from UC Irvine. As an undergraduate, he received a Getty grant and interned at the Museum of Jurassic Technology in Venice, CA, where he was involved in all aspects of exhibition design. He is also a curator, a collaborator, and an activist and has worked for the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center's Advocate Gallery. Solo exhibition venues includeDeepriverand Commonwealth and Council, and his work has been included in group shows at M&B Gallery, the MAK Center at the Schindler House, Pinta*Dos Philippine Art Gallery, Huntington Botanical Gardens, Plug-In Gallery (Ontario, Canada), and Exit Art in New York.
Maryrose Cobarrubias Mendoza is an interdisciplinary artist working primarily in sculpture, drawing, and installation. Mendoza was the recipient of a DCA COLA Award, a New York Art Matters fellowship, and has served residencies at Yaddo Artist Residency, Joshua Tree Highlands, and Air Yosuga in Kyoto, Japan. Her solo exhibitions include: Commonwealth and Council, SolwayJones, YYZ Artist Outlet, and HudsonJones Gallery. Her group exhibitions include: Forum Gallery, SOMA Arts, USC Pacific Asia Museum, University of Hawaii, and PlugIn Gallery. Mendoza is an Associate Professor and Drawing Coordinator at Pasadena City College. She received her BA from California State University Los Angeles, her MFA from Claremont Graduate University, and attended the Otis Art Institute of Parsons School of Design.
Christine Morla is an interdisciplinary artist and arts educator working in painting and installation. She received her MFA from Claremont Graduate University and a BA from Loyola Marymount University. Christine’s work has been exhibited nationally and internationally at Art Frankfurt in Germany, Rimjaus Gallery in Mexico City, the Armory Show in New York, Torrance Art Museum, Huntington Beach Art Center, 18th Street Arts Center in Santa Monica, Jaus Gallery in Los Angeles, the Santa Barbara Contemporary Arts Forum, Pinta*Dos Philippine Art Gallery and the Carnegie Museum in Oxnard, among other venues. Christine is an Associate Professor at Oxnard College and Director of the McNish Gallery.
Chris Sícatwas a long time Los Angeles artist and curator before moving to the San Francisco Bay Area. He graduated from Otis/Parsons School of Design (BFA) and the New York Academy of Arts (MFA. cum laude). His recent sculptures investigate the natural environment as a platform for process and performance-based art making. Sicat has exhibited his graphite sculptures at Southern Exposure, Intersection for the Arts, Root Division, de Saisset Museum, Palo Alto Art Center and Swarm Gallery in the San Francisco Bay Area, CA. He is represented by K. Imperial Fine Arts in San Francisco. CA. Sicat directed Hatch Gallery (1999 - 2001) in Los Angeles and has independently curated numerous exhibitions such as the Gold Rush at the de Saisset Museum at Santa Clara University, the controversial “Rejection Show” which was highlighted on the BBC The World and the upcoming Future IDs at Alcatraz in Fall '18.
Maria Villote was born in Manila, Philippines in 1984 and immigrated to the United States ten years later. Villote lived and worked in the Bay Area, where she received a BA in Art Practice from University of California, Berkeley. She is one of the co-founders/co-curators of Project: One Night Stand (ONS Projects), an ongoing series of site-specific art exhibits that utilize unexpected and unconventional settings/spaces throughout Ventura County. She was also a recipient of the 2012-2013 Oxnard Cultural Arts Grant.