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Dominic Mangila
My artistic process involves construction of Philippine history painting through an amalgamation of research and collection of historical records; juxtaposition; alteration and appropriation of photographic images that represent an historic event; and internalization of a witness’ assumed and imagined interiority of mind and invasion of the witness’ privacy of experience. A by-product of this process is the emergence of a space shared by the viewer and the painter in such a way as both stand in the same space looking at the painting.
The subjects of my paintings are historical and geopolitical events such as the departure of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos from the Philippines on February 25, 1986 and the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in June 1991.
The painting New Republic is as an homage to my family’s home in Pampanga which was eroded and devastated by Mount Pinatubo eruption in 1991. The wall depicted is a representation of the few walls still standing in Pampanga after eruption. This wall could be of an elementary school or a house, a government office, a church, etc. It is decaying and weathered but still standing. Life forms such as plants and flowers spring out, giving hope to an otherwise gloomy landscape.
The series of painting February 25, 1986. Manila was generated by assuming the identities of the witnesses of the Marcos family’s departure from the Philippine presidential palace aboard an American Sikorsky. The witnesses were Imelda Marcos, Imelda’s young son, Ferdinand Marcos, American pilot, and a Filipino soldier.