The Bone Is The Seed
MJ Flamiano
7
November 2019
7
November
2019
29
November 2019
Gallery 1
Through listening to a Tagalog language learning podcast, I come to the realisation that the word ‘butó’, meaning ‘bone’ in English also has the secondary meaning of ‘seed’. It is through this innocuous discovery that I am reminded of the memory of my mum, a first-generation migrant from the Philippines, referring to the pit and the seed of the mango as the ‘bone’; a frequent error in her speech, which as a child, I would instinctively correct with irritation. By reflecting on the nuances of translation I reconsider my identity and relationship with the languages of Tagalog and English in a series of drawings and photographic prints, derived from the discarded husks of fruit, seeds, and childhood experience.
Through listening to a Tagalog language learning podcast, I come to the realisation that the word ‘butó’, meaning ‘bone’ in English also has the secondary meaning of ‘seed’. It is through this innocuous discovery that I am reminded of the memory of my mum, a first-generation migrant from the Philippines, referring to the pit and the seed of the mango as the ‘bone’; a frequent error in her speech, which as a child, I would instinctively correct with irritation. By reflecting on the nuances of translation I reconsider my identity and relationship with the languages of Tagalog and English in a series of drawings and photographic prints, derived from the discarded husks of fruit, seeds, and childhood experience.
MJ Flamiano
MJ Flamiano is a visual artist, creative producer and arts worker of Anglo and Filipino ancestry with roots in Luzon and the Visayas. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Art (First Class Honours) from Monash University Art Design and Architecture and a Diploma of Library and Information Services from Victoria University. She endeavours to present critical and often playful investigations into sites and their cultural significance. Her present focus is on exploring Filipinx histories and diaspora through solo and community projects in printmaking, video, installation and text. She is a Creative Director of Saluhan Collective, a Filipinx/o artist collective based in Naarm, along with Catherine Ortega-Sandow and Founder Aida Azin. She is also a Co-Director of Pagbasa Archive with Catherine Ortega-Sandow, a new Filipinx archive of text, art, object, film and sound based at Mission to Seafarers. She is a member of Sunshine Print Artspace Artist Collective and currently works at Incinerator Gallery.