MARIGOLD SANTOS,of armour bespoke, of fabric, of skin, of within / binubuo ng pasadyang proteksyon, ng tela, ng balat, at ng kalooban, Norberg Hall Gallery
Exhibition: Sept 13 – Oct 26, 2024
333b – 36 Ave SE
Calgary AB T2G 1W2
Canada
Across cultures and in artistic practices, needle work – that is, any kind of handiwork completed with a needle and thread – has both quotidian utilitarianism and can produce artefacts that ceremonially mark life’s milestones. By extension, tattooing, a practice that also involves the needle – is also a type of needle work that punctures skin with ink and marks the bearer with designs that hold personal significance. Tattooing elevates the skin beyond its biological function, turns it into a surface of ornamentation, and imbues the body with talismanic power. It is a transformation from physical to spiritual protection. A malunggay sprig, hand fans woven from palm leaves, stylized flora, a harlequin asuang, a cross-section of a lanka are whispers of a rich heritage from which many children of the diaspora are estranged. With a needle, the artist sutures these disjunctures and reconnects the bearer of these markings with our collective histories.
In this new exhibition, Manila-born, Calgary-based Marigold Santos re-interprets Philippine traditional material practices of needle work, both textile embroidery and tattooing, into magical moments of transcendent relationality.
Santos takes on a new direction in her practice with this series of large scale studio photographic portraits of people she has tattooed. For the artist, tattooing is a trauma-informed and relational practice in which she prioritises IBPOC bodies, particularly Filipino/a/x. The individuals who are photographed have been marked by Santos; just as she has supported their bodily and aesthetic choices, these people support Santos’ artistic career. Adopting the same artful intimacy that she takes on when tattooing her subjects, Santos engages with the sitters of each portrait, each a member of the Filipinx diasporic community. These photographs not only capture relations of mutual support, but also networks of reciprocated trust.
Reinventing these traditional practices in the diaspora not only physically marks people but marks them as time and space travellers who have traversed oceans, violent colonial encounters, racism, sexism, homophobia, and transphobia to stand in that very moment.
Shrouded in black, Santos’ portraits are enveloped in darkness, but a levity shines through the eyes of her sitters. Brown skin, white grins, and the glints of eyes shine through the darkness. In a world that denies full humanity to Filipinx diasporic subjects who are often seen as labourers and expendable, these portraits celebrate the embodied resistances and joys that have been cultivated by communities that are seeking to reclaim ancestral power and move it into abundant futures. They exude comfort in their own skin – skin that they have willfully chosen to adorn with motifs oftentimes created collaboratively with Santos.
For Filipinos/as/x amid white supremacy, feeling good “in ones’ skin” cannot be taken for granted. Intergenerational trauma, colonial mentality, and toxicity within the Filipinx community amplify lies that proximity to whiteness is desirable as it moves closer to privilege and power. To be joyful in one’s body is radical. To be joyful in one’s brown body is revolutionary.
Santos’ needle work is in fact, needed work for these children of the diaspora – mga anak ng diaspora: Bianca. Darren. Dianne. Gina. Jackie. Jean. Joey. Jules. Mac. Michelle. Ray. Robi. Ruth. Tiffany. Tomi. Aware of these colonial harms, Santos mobilises her art to heal. And like a babaylan, the artist conjures the wisdom and skills of the ancestors, bringing them into conversation with contemporary artistic vocabularies and shows us art as salve for battered, brown bodies.
