Pananglagip Jonathan Andrew B. Taala June 18-June 30 2026, 12pm-6pm Opening Reception: Friday June 19, 6pm-9pm
Artist Statement:Â The work began over a decade ago with a simple observation; Iâm getting older and so are my parents. I began photographing them as a way of bearing witness to their ongoing process of aging.
Four years into making photographs, my father was diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer. I continued to photograph him during this time, thinking about how his absence would affect me. Less than three years later, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, he passed away. I began to think about how I didnât know much about him as a person, aside from the fact that he was my father. It made me reflect on who my father was and what choices he made in life that affected the outcome of who I am today as a second generation Filipino American. I felt compelled to learn more about him as my way of processing grief.
Pananglagip is an Ilocano word that encompasses the active process of remembering through ritual. Through the use of photographs, ephemera, and the passing down of oral history, I construct a material narrative that keeps the memory of my late father alive as a way to navigate family history and situate myself within diaspora. Using the color carbon printing process, which relies on manually registering layers of pigmented gelatin on paper to make a print, each photograph is slowly built by hand making each print a ritual of remembrance.
