Connecting Cultures and Oceans Through Art
Connecting cultures through folklore and the ocean and creating scenes from recycled bullet casings, Josephine Turalba is rethinking how we perceive the ocean by flipping the perspective and putting us into the ocean with her eye-catching installations and canvases. Decentering the human perspective of separate islands and connecting people through stories and imagery of the sea. When I first entered the gallery in Hong Kong, I was immediately drawn to the floor-to-ceiling silk draperies on my right. These delicate hangings, made from traditional Filipino piña silk (a blend of silk and pineapple fiber), flow gently from the ceiling of the upper floor. The walls and floor surrounding the installation are covered in iridescent sheets that reflect light like ocean waves, creating an immersive underwater ambiance. This piece, titled "Drifting Threads and Typographies," invites visitors to experience the ocean’s fluidity and connection through movement and light. Josephine Turalba is a Filipina artist who was inspired by the thinker and writer Epeli Hauʻofa’s statement "we are the sea, we are the ocean." During a creative residency in the coastal regions of Japan, she set out on a mission to connect Japan with her native Philippines not through land or borders but through the ocean, weaving together tales of mythology and legend that traveled through the Philippine Sea over both island groups' long and vibrant histories. These 10 panels of varying lengths are suspended from the ceiling, immersing you in an underwater environment, embroidered with sea creatures and plants that flow and twist around each other in waves. Bright colors catch your eye as the perspective flips and you suddenly find yourself underwater with them. During the opening, visitors were invited to walk within the piece and between the silk panels, the flow of people moving the curtains, the physical representation of humans' effect on the marine ecosystem. i was absolutely enamoured by these pieces,…