Wawi Navarroza: The Artist as Medium

by Alivé Piliado

Seated on a red inflated ball, a woman in a floral Filipiniana dress strikes a defiant gaze at the viewer. Her left hand resting on her lap holds a rose quartz sphere and positions her purple-gloved right hand askew over her chest. The bodily gesture conveys a strong grounding in space, surrounded by elements subtly suggesting the protagonist's attributes —items like a camera, shoes, handicrafts, and other spheres laid on the ground, playing with the symbolism of the worlds she has inhabited as a madre mundi. In the background, drapings of blue patadyong fabric, one of the handmade heritage textiles of the Philippines, and strings of decorative plants made from upcycled neon green soda bottles frame the woman and author of this photograph, Wawi Navarroza. This work, titled Rosas Pandan (Volviendo, Self-Portrait), 2023 —one of her most recent compositions made in Manila— is part of Navarroza's first solo exhibition in the United States, The Other Shore. Presenting a selection of 18 photographic works produced between 2019 and 2023, Navarroza draws inspiration from the crests and troughs of personal experience and a life marked by constant geographic and cultural movement between the “East” and the “West.” She translates these experiences into visual narratives on large-scale photographic tableaux to question, experience, and materialize her-self as a literal and allegorical body.

Through her 25 year long career as a multidisciplinary artist across transnational shores in the Philippines, Spain, Türkiye, and the United States, Navarroza delves into the complexities of being a Filipina woman artist in ceaseless physical transition and self-exploration. Her tableaux immortalize temporarily static spaces as the shutter captures an intricate composition of materials and worlds in each frame. Within her self-portraiture practice, Navarroza meticulously overlays her own transformations and rebirths as an artist, embodying what can be described as a triad of intricate meanings: a postcolonial reading, a radical identity, and a restorative legacy.

Firstly, the postcolonial reading in Navarroza's oeuvre is evident in the visual lexicon informed by her growing up in Manila, navigating the postcolonial conditions and a hybrid culture heavily shaped by the Spanish and American occupation in the Philippines. The distinct history of the Philippines places it within the ambit of a Latin Asia, via Spain, forging connections with Mexico, and sharing similar colonial and geographic latitudes. Navarroza employs this premise to articulate critical categories through her body and the surrounding elements, subverting the notion of being a "bad Asian." In Remember Who You Are (Strange Fruit/The Other Asian, Self-Portrait with Pineapple), 2019, she trades her identity for hegemonic whiteness and the strangeness of an inhabited body subjected to imposed cultural ideals and assigned stereotypes. Rather than mere glimpses into her lived world, Navarroza's maximalist images serve as portals to deliberately challenge the viewer with their own cultural biases and critical perspectives of Asian representation.

Secondly, Navarroza adopted a radical identity to differentiate her personal experiences and reflections from her colonial legacy, delineating her roles as an artist, woman, and mother. She redefines the concept of the "colonial wound" by portraying her body as a dual world, depicted in two self-portraits: Portals / Double Portrait (Self-Portraits), 2022, and The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter/The Self-Portraitist (After Alcuáz, Self-Portrait), 2019.^[1] In the former, Navarroza embodies the roles of both mother and artist, reflecting the concepts of the creator of art and the creator of life within a context rich with materials connected to her present in Manila. In the latter, the artist and the dreamer, with one standing and the other reclining in an odalisque-style pose, emerge within a consciously amassed and richly saturated assortment of fabrics. The reclining figure, reminiscent of an odalisque, alludes to a symbol from European art of the 19th century, associated with Western notions of objectifying the body of a woman from the “East.”

Thirdly, the restorative legacy within Navarroza's work resides in the symbolic bequest of coded messages or meta-meanings she incorporates about herself for the viewers. Utilizing her body as a medium, she endures a colonial past, encapsulating identity and manifesting how her work represents a convergence of biographical and historical elements. This amalgamation encompasses art history symbols, with the female as an embodied symbol of strength channeling past, present, and future. This thematic approach is evident in The Weightlifter Orans: Auit at Gaua (Self-Portrait with Blue Ribbon), 2022, where Navarroza prominently stands in the foreground, hoisting a long blue ribbon in a posture reminiscent of the Orans from early Christian/Byzantine iconography which the artist encountered while living in Istanbul. This iconic gesture bears additional significance as it mirrors the posture of Filipina weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz during her historic Olympic Gold medal win in 2020—an event that inspired Navarroza to fuse into the tableau joining the ancient and the present in one. The work celebrates women who are the bearers of the weight of society, albeit invisibly, as the lightness of the blue ribbon. The image symbolizes strength in surrender to the seasons of life and the innate power of women in her profound legacy.

In her photographs, the artist deliberately places herself as the central figure, weaving narratives from archetypal histories of women. Each image transforms into a meticulously crafted habitat tailored for her body. As Navarroza articulates, “she is surrounded, protected and held in that frame, and I love that safety and belonging, she is sure of herself and she is going into the future, but also being informed by the past.” This reflective intention permeates every composition, serving either as a suggestive reminder of cultural belonging or as a poetic encounter with uncanny objects. For the viewer, the artistic experience evolves into a collective exploration, resonating with community reflections on transcultural encounters and identity. Additionally, her work is deeply rooted in a lineage inspired by the legacies of Filipina artists such as Pacita Abad, Agnes Arellano, Julie Lluch, as well as, in the Mexican context, by iconic figures like Frida Kahlo, and Remedios Varo.

Navarroza´s compelling self-representation possesses a timeless quality, depicting a form of hieratism in her body. This hieratic essence in traditional art historical terms is reflected in the rigid position of the self-portraits, symbolizing that her body serves as the medium to express profound narratives. In this visual language, the camera assumes the role of the observer and captures the nuanced details of her storytelling. This intentional and hieratic approach compels viewers to cross a threshold into a realm of confrontations with our present, past, and future selves. The hieratism inherent in Navarroza's work not only elevates the significance of her self-portraits but also contributes to the broader tradition of art history where symbolic elements are employed to convey a sense of the sacred and transcendent. Through this combination of body, camera, and storytelling, Navarroza establishes a visual language that echoes the timeless aspects of the female and human experience, inviting audiences to engage with narratives that extend beyond geography and embody their own meanings. As the artist wrote in her diary “We are creatures of symbols because we are creatures of meaning. Brujas, monjas, weavers, somos.”