Recovery

Throughout her artistic practice, Nona Garcia uses stark realism as a way to uncover the hidden essence of her subjects.  Her work questions the connections between reality, perception, and meaning through photo-realistic paintings and x-ray installations of sacred objects.

Moving from Manila to Baguio City in the mountainous Cordillera region of the Philippines in 2013, Nona was inspired by the landscape and culture of her adoptive city.  Recovery, (2014) explores the indigenous culture and animist spirituality of this region, mediating our understanding of what lies beneath venerated ceremonial and spiritual objects such granary guardians (bulul), animal-shaped bowls (kinahu), metal fertility pendants (ling ling o) and talismanic necklaces (boaya) through the cold, penetrating light of an x-ray machine.  While the x-ray imaging may reveal the inner workings of these objects, the eerie glow of the spectral forms serves to heighten their mysterious nature.

Presented in the form of a mountain, the work also recognises the spiritual ties of these ancient cultures to the land.  For Nona, the process of reconnecting to these ancient Filipino cultures was similar to recovering something deeper and older, like a lost practice from the city’s past.