Nica Aquino
  • Home
  • About
    • Bio
    • Full CV
    • Press >
      • Asian Voices TV, Ep. 10
      • Art & Cake Contemporary Art Magazine
      • University of Southern California Center for Religion and Civic Culture
      • Oregon Artswatch
      • Occidental News
      • Voyage LA
      • Corridor8
      • Portland Mercury
    • Connect >
      • Email
      • Newsletter >
        • Subscribe
        • Issue 11/08/22
      • Instagram
      • Tumblr
      • YouTube
  • Projects
    • Visual Art >
      • Exhibitions >
        • DISplace >
          • Online Exhibition
          • Oregon Artswatch: Artswatch Focus
        • Past >
          • 2021 >
            • Hair Pulling Between Good & Evil
            • Quiet Please at Tlaloc Studios
            • HATAK
            • I Remember 2020
            • Sanctuary of the Aftermath >
              • Exhibition
              • Review: Art & Cake Contemporary Art Magazine
          • 2020 >
            • Merkadito Pasko
            • Untold Parallels
            • Home at Acogedor Space for Maiden LA
            • Kentucky Fried Pop-Up for Maiden LA
          • 2019 >
            • Politically Private
            • Borders: Representation & Reality
          • 2018 >
            • Depaysement
            • Immigration 101
            • Images of Power >
              • Exhiibtion Catalogue
              • Press
          • 2017 >
            • Honoring Our Ancestors
          • 2016 >
            • Reply All >
              • Exhibition
              • Press
            • Territorial Anxiety
          • 2013 >
            • Resistance
      • Photographic Series >
        • The Mayor's Daughter
        • Memory Full
        • How I Survived Breaking Both My Legs
        • Mana
        • Sixteen Again
        • Keep Portland White
        • Misc. Photography
        • Coming Soon >
          • Nobody Walks in LA
          • A Year in the Coloniser's Land
      • Other Media >
        • Memory Room >
          • Exhibition
          • Artist Talk: Dinner in the Memory Room
        • Video >
          • Instructional Video for the Warrior Goddess
          • #I_ATE_THE_BONES
          • Isolation 2020 - Balamb
          • Danum (Water) #1
          • Supertubos Beach
          • Lucid Dreaming
          • Celebrate Movement
          • Keep Portland White
        • Textiles >
          • Kusikus Textile Series (ongoing)
          • Untitled Wall Hanging
        • Misc. Mixed Media
    • Programming >
      • Curatorial >
        • 2022 >
          • HATAK 2022
          • KAPWA: Communal Spirit
          • FOR GOOD?
        • 2021 >
          • HATAK (2021)
          • I Remember 2020
        • 2020 >
          • Merkadito Pasko
          • Tuloy Po Kayo
          • Untold Parallels
          • Quality Time
        • 2019 >
          • We Are Like Air
          • anotherspace >
            • Exhibition
            • Eye of the Fish: Gunita Collective x Batik Maker
            • Lola's Sari-Sari Store
          • Araw Ng Mga Patay >
            • Exhibition
            • Artist Led Walkthrough
            • PRESS: Occidental Newspaper
            • PRESS: University of Southern California Center for Religion and Civic Culture
        • 2018 >
          • Balay/Bahay >
            • Exhibition
            • Opening Reception Performances >
              • Alay
              • Gong Spirits
              • Native Spirit
              • Dance Cypher
      • Community Engagement >
        • 2020 >
          • Oxy Arts Community Studio Series with Nica Aquino (Occidental College)
          • Family Paint Night w/ FilAm Fam (POSTPONED)
          • Paper Making w/ John DeCastro
        • 2019 >
          • Parol Workshop w/ Christian Acfalle
          • Current LA:FOOD
          • Balikbayan Box w/ Sara Chao >
            • Workshop
            • Press
          • How to Make a Rainbow w/ Jade Phoenix
          • Lumpihahaha
      • Lectures, Artist Talks >
        • 2021 >
          • Healing Centered Art: Many Paths to Wellness | Wed, May 26, 2021 | 630-8PM (PST)
          • DISCOVER 10: 10 API Artists at the Cutting Edge of Art
        • 2020 >
          • Artist Talk w/ Silvia M. De Leon
          • Artist Talk w/ Dearantler
          • Artist Talk w/ Em Hernandez
          • Artist Talk w/ Mike Saijo
        • 2019 >
          • 'Araw Ng Mga Patay' Artist Led Walkthrough
          • Dinner in the 'Memory Room'
          • Artist Panel PSU Dept. of Philosophy
        • 2018 >
          • 24th Adelante Mujer Latina
      • Shady Pines Radio >
        • Past (playlist links here) >
          • 12.16.21: "Angels with Filthy Souls" on Shady Pines Radio
          • 10.28.21 - "Songs to Listen to Before a Cult S*icide"
    • Publications >
      • 2019 Filipino-American Artist Directory
      • 2017 {M}aganda Magazine
    • Performances >
      • 2015 Merrie Monarch Ho'ike
      • 2015 Aratani Theater
  • Mata Art Gallery
  • Donate
    • Venmo
    • PayPal
    • Cash.App
    • Zelle: nica.u.aquino@gmail.com
Memory Room
Nica Aquino multimedia solo exhibition
Annex Gallery at Avenue 50 Studio; Highland Park, CA
Picture
‘Memory Room,’ a solo exhibition of works shown at the Annex Gallery in Avenue 50 Studio.


Interactive Altar Installation, Mixed Media, Textile, Natural Materials, 35mm Photos & Video.


Since 2016, I've been creating mixed media altar installations & textiles that examine loss & memory as an Ilokana in the US diaspora. My last mixed media altar installation in 2017, titled ‘Saan Kayo Nga Nalipatan (You Are Not Forgotten)’ addressed the extrajudicial killings happening in the Philippines, ordered by Rodrigo Duturte, elected president of the islands in 2016. Through this altar installation, I mourn my Manong (older brother), who was a victim of the killings, and call attention to the lives taken by this violation of human rights.

In the summer of 2018, I returned to my ancestral homeland of La Union, Ilokos, Philippines after over 23 years. During this visit, I spent a month connecting with the natural landscapes and intimate spaces once inhabited by passed loved ones & ancestors. I collected memories through natural materials gleaned from the land, as well as created video & photographs interlaced with nostalgia & longing, to create ‘Memory Room.’

There is an old proverb in Ilokano that goes, ‘No saan nga makaammo nga nangtaliaw ti naggapuanna, saan a makadanon ti papananna.’ (One who does not look back to their origins will not reach their destination.) During my visit home, I learned more about the origins of certain ancestral practices that honor the dead, such as the atang -- an offering or ofrenda -- as well as the significance of offering specific items such as basi (sugar cane wine originated from Ilokos & the Cordilleras in the Northern Philippines). Having lived a majority of my life in the US, my intention when I returned home was to reconnect with this lost part of my identity; a loss that is a result of US colonization of the Philippines, historical erasure & inevitable migration.

‘Memory Room’ provided a meditative atmosphere for visitors to reflect & pray, as they contributed personal items &/or letters & notes written on paper boats, that were attached to a river-like handmade textile based altar. I am of Ilokano descent; Ilokano means ‘people from the coastal or riverine lowlands.’ Creating a body of water is significant in representing my origins as an Ilokana & the large bodies of water Ilokanos are known for residing by. As the boats flowed down the river, visitors' messages descended into the spirit world, reaching passed loved ones & honoring the memories of our ancestors.
Picture

Exhibition Documentation:

*NOTE: Textile is made out of acrylic yarn, embroidery thread, glass beads & assorted shells and is 10x2ft. It is available for purchase. Please contact me for inquires.

Video:

All footage shot in our ancestral homeland of
San Juan, La Union, Ilokos, Philippines in Barangay Urbiztondo.
Soundtrack by FFVIII.

*NOTE: Please view on full screen with the volume turned up.

Featured Photography:

All photographs are 35mm, shot on Kodak Kodacolor 400 GC.
Ilokos, Philippines. 2018.

Small framed prints are available. Please contact me for inquires.
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.