Eliza O. Barrios
Make Do: part two Karaoke Sessions
Help Me Make It Through, 02:59 min.
Where Do I Begin, 03:20 min.
Yesterday, 02:33 min.
Video
Courtesy of the artist

This work is on loan for the exhibition, Living Here, at the Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art, June 20 - December 20, 2025

Voices are central to Eliza O. Barrios’ art practice. Sometimes she uses her own voice in live performances; at other times, she highlights the voices and performances of others. In SOMA: Youth and Elders’ VOICES, for example, interviews with Filipino residents of San Francisco’s SOMA district were projected onto a building. In Chatsilog Revisited, her collaboration with M.O.B. recreates the original Chatsilog project (2008) a performance with the late Filipino American artist Carlos Villa.

In Make Do: part 2 Karaoke Sessions, Barrios turns her focus inward, exploring the voices of her family—especially her mother. “The video is a collection of media from the Barrios family archives, spanning 1980 to 2020,” she explains. “This material has been remixed, layered, and reimagined using newly uncovered footage from my childhood home at 1571 Bubbling Well Drive. It captures key family milestones alongside my late mother's favorite pastime: karaoke. The piece reflects on our lineage, the search for belonging, and the blending of tradition and technology between 1989 and 2008. It offers a glimpse into the lives of one of many Filipino immigrant families striving to ‘make do’ in a foreign land.”