REFLECTION ON KEYNOTE ADDRESS by MARIKIT SANTIAGO

I found the artist’s explanations of her process and influences fascinating, particularly her discussion of her installations. She uses second hand, discarded mannequins, covered in packaging tape to reference moving, relocation and also the victims of war in the Phillipines, whose heads were bound in packing tape. She is interested in exploring how we perceive value and when items have religious reverence placed upon them. Her installation works are impressive in their intertwined and complex themes.
Santiago’s paintings that explore her multi-cultural identity, religious iconography and her experiences in motherhood were especially impactful. I thought it was so interesting that she felt most comfortable in her body when pregnant, that she loved herself the most in this state. The use of her old wedding dress in a sculptural work – how it was folded and scrunched, with paper materials added resulted in perhaps my favourite work. Here again, she explored the value of items. The wedding dress, traditionally such an important symbol, combined with disposable items. What a statement!
Also very interesting is her habit of discarding works. Her entire practice seems to embrace this notion of playing with the temporal nature of things, such as how she now chooses to paint exclusively on cardboard. She is not concerned with the conservation of her work; she wants it seen now.