Where the heart is

Where the heart is

91.44 cm x 60.96 cm

Acrylic on canvas

2024

Art statement:

"Where the Heart Is" reflects on the pamahiin (superstitions) | grew up hearing, particularly those surrounding bananas-an object I believe is rich in metaphorical meaning. Kapid nga saging (twin bananas), as the old folks would say that if a woman consumes one, she will give birth to twins.

Additionally, the word puso in puso ng saging (banana blossom) is the same word for "heart" in Tagalog, a connection that briefly intrigued me in childhood.

More recently, during a visit to historical churches and homes, I encountered decorative grillwork commonly found in traditional Filipino architecture. I was particularly struck by how its form resembled a womb and how it was designed that way to hold plants—a nurturing space for life and growth.

Reflection on superstitions, the memory of bananas, and visits to old churches and houses are what this piece is about.

Nostalgia, to me, feels like a dream sequence, and I arranged the visual references in the hopes of invoking exactly that.

Each exists within its own frame, in its own world, yet there remains a sense of fluidity as these images are inherently interconnected. By bringing together images I encountered at different times and places, new narratives emerge, effectively

"remembering" them both in memory and as a way of reconstructing meaning.