2022 Member's Show Best in Show Award

Artist statement from Jason Reblando:
"As a child of Filipino immigrants, I find myself contemplating the long legacy imperialism in the Philippines. I am particularly interested in the historical moment at which photographs—and those in a position to preserve these photographs—cemented perceptions of the Global South in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. As I research the documentation of Spanish and American colonial period in the Philippines, I can see that the archive, a tool of power, tells a narrative from a singular perspective that documents the subjugation and commodification of the Philippines by the United States. Using mixed-media collage techniques and engaging with the archive represents a significant artistic turning point in the method I make photo-based work about the Philippines. Ultimately, I hope my work points to the colonizing power of the archive, not just for Filipinos, but for all members of the Global South. By weaving historical photographs into my own contemporary art practice, I hope to contribute to efforts to decolonize and recontextualize photographic archives that codified these power dynamics."