Art studio sophomore Loren Pante held an opening reception for her art exhibit where attendees were greeted into a dimly lit room decorated with earth tones and the sounds of guitar melodies playing on Wednesday.
Pante named the show “Hardin,” the Tagalog word for “garden,” and displayed her vision through incorporating dried plants and green strings hanging across the ceiling.
Tagalog is one of the most commonly used languages in the Philippines.
Pante included many aspects of her Filipino heritage in her gallery. The show featured a collection of drawings, sculptures and installations.
Though her art show conveyed serenity and peacefulness, Pante’s initial impression of her mother showed the opposite.
“Growing up as a child, you see your parents as these gods, but as you start growing up, you lose your religion,” Pante said.
Pante said the art gallery was inspired by a letter she wrote to her mother about coming to understand her.
She said she grew up experiencing “harsh Filipino parenting.”
“I accepted that she was just that way, but nowadays, I feel like accepting it is another word for giving up for me,” Pante said. “I don't think accepting is a conclusion. After accepting, you have to understand why she is that way.”
Pante said that others can relate to her experience and received praise on the first day of her show.
“If I share my experience, people can take stuff away from it,” Pante said. “People can understand themselves through this work which was just something I wanted.”
Animation and illustration sophomore Mai Rufino said that she and Pante connected with each other in experiencing generational trauma.
According to Indiana University Health, generational trauma includes the adverse challenges that one experiences and if not properly healed from that trauma, can pass onto future generations.
Rufino said confronting those issues sooner is important for young adults.
“It's just really good acknowledging everything ... and people being more self-aware so (Pante) can heal,” Rufino said.
Pante said creating the piece “It Ends With You” was her first step in accepting and understanding her mother.
Pante said she held the “Mano Po” piece as her own personal favorite because creating it allowed her to explore a medium outside of her normal field of drawing.
In Filipino culture, people say “mano po” and bow while pressing their elder’s right hand to their forehead as a gesture that offers blessing and respect, according to an article by Asian Customs EU.
The piece is an installation of a brown antique table with a sewing machine sitting on top. Pieces of dried flowers, tied ribbon and strings of yarn dress up the sewing machine with two photo frames hung above.
The drawings in the frames are photos of visiting her grandmother in Oakland.
Pante said the sewing machine shows significance to her grandparents’ sacrifices in raising her family.
“Her and my Lolo were seamstresses before coming here and they made my mom's uniforms. That was how they made her living,” Pante said.
In Tagalog, “Lolo” means grandfather whereas “Lola” means grandmother.
Pante said she admired her grandparents’ resilience and compared it to her own experience growing up.
“Even though it's two different experiences (and) two different worlds, we're still together,” Pante said.
Strings of yarn intertwine the different pieces of the gallery, which represents the “togetherness” Pante intended to portray, she said.
Pante’s friends and housemates supported her in the process of planning and curating the gallery.
Graphic design sophomore Caden Chang said Pante worked on pieces for the gallery during the summertime, and constantly worried people would not get the message. However, Chang said he helped her remain confident about her art.
“Having faith in yourself and their artistic vision was super important (in) reassuring (Loren),” Chang said.
Pante said creating the gallery tested her abilities as an artist.
“I make pieces because I'm uncertain about things and this was a topic especially that seemed unapproachable to me,” Pante said. “But making this gallery, kind of just let all of that go.”
