KULAP

The “immigrant experience” in America has always been multifaceted, yet the process of coming to and becoming a part of the United States engenders challenges and triumphs that share many common features: struggles to adapt; to acquire vital knowledge and skills; to balance the need to adopt the new culture with the claims of the old home; the experiences of racism and exclusion; the tightly knit comfort of a diaspora. As the U.S. undergoes yet another painful examination of its assumptions and attitudes about immigration, the Pao Arts Center is proud to present a new series of works by Filipino-American artist Bren Bataclan, inspired by his own immigration to Daly City, California in 1981.

The events portrayed chronologically in “Kulap” (“Fog” in Tagalog) are at once deeply personal and evocative of shared stories and moments. Bataclan’s vivid style blends influences from anime, “Superflat” artists like Takashi Murakami and Yoshitomo Nara, Filipina artist Norma Belleza, and his visual communication background. Bataclan uses his graphic design skills to excise inessentials and distill human meaning from complex situations. His minimalist, hyper-stylized compositions are immediately accessible to viewers of all ages and backgrounds, even as they convey deeply-felt themes of estrangement and belonging, discovery and confusion. In a departure from his past works, Bataclan has incorporated elements from comic art, using thought bubbles and dialogue to express more details of his characters’ experiences and give greater scope to his gentle yet penetrating sense of humor.

“Kulap” is informed by Bataclan’s Filipino heritage and the foggy hills of the San Francisco Bay Area.  The brown-skinned figures and the situations in which they find themselves, though,  create a mirror in which immigrants from many countries, as well as their children and their grandchildren, can see their own histories. The “fog” encompasses the literal fog of the coastal hills,  the cultural fog of a new immigrant’s surroundings, and the fog of confusion and anxiety engendered by the election of a President whose anti-immigrant stance resonated deeply with a significant number of Americans.

Many immigration histories include the shattering effects of trauma, violence, and tragedy. While Bataclan did not undergo those harrowing experiences, his stories of dislocation, microaggressions, adjustment, prejudice and growth can serve as touchstones and mirrors for everyone who has tried to navigate through the fog of a new culture and place.

“Kulap” invites recognition, reflection, and contemplation of what it means to be an immigrant, a citizen, and an evolving human being.

More info about the artist, Bren Bataclan >>>