Above Water

Nona Garcia’s photo assemblages are reflective contemplations on calamity and destruction. Layering multiple copies of a found image and deftly cutting out sections, Nona transforms a 2-dimesional photograph into a 3-dimesional artwork reminiscent of a diorama. Unlike the staged sets of dioramas, however, these images document actual events and the raised details somehow make the destruction seem more real.  By enclosing these small images into ornate frames, Nona elevates these everyday pictures into landscapes that reveal our helplessness in the face of natural disasters.

Above Water, 2010 recalls the severe flooding in Metro Manila caused by Typhoon Ondoy (Ketsana) in September 2009. Fast rising flood waters caught hundreds of thousands living in low-lying areas unawares, forcing many to climb to the roofs of their houses to avoid being swept away. The image shows the first floor of a home inundated by flood waters, with broken furniture and a fallen statue floating in the middle of the living room.