Beyond Motherhood Statements: Elicana’s ‘Mother and Child’ at Altro Mondo

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 By John Anthony S. Estolloso

WITH HIS fifth solo show, Ilonggo artist Noel M. Elicana essays into the figurations of motherhood.  However, there is none of the usual imagery associated with maternity on his canvases. Replacing this with metaphors which speak more about his personal struggles melded into political symbolism, he provides the viewer with interpretations rather than statements: far from the confines of hearth and home are his definitions of motherhood.

Last Saturday witnessed the vernissage of this new exhibit at Altro Mondo. Entitled ‘Mother and Child’, the collection of artworks is an apt and timely celebration of womanhood and the feminine, albeit seen through unconventional lenses. But beyond the allegory of the canvases is the artist’s identity and context embedded into the artworks. It is safe to say that Elicana is one to bring the Ilonggo flavor and worldview to the capital’s art scene, giving the urban metro a taste of regional aesthetics and political perspectives.

Hailing from Jaro, Elicana burgeoned into the local art scene in 2013 through his participation and recognition in notable art competitions, counting among them Vision Petron National Student Art Competition, the Metrobank Art and Design Excellence Contest, and the Philippine Art Awards. His first solo show at ILOMOCA in 2019 established him as one of the local practitioners of avant-garde, surrealist, and symbolist painting. Currently a member of Sigahum Artists, his artworks since then have figured in numerous group shows and exhibitions here in Iloilo City.

Now, he is back in Metro Manila with a new solo show, one that questions how we view motherhood conventionally.

Perhaps the pièce de resistance of the exhibit would be Territorial, a sprawling canvas inundated by animal figures drawn in theatrical attitudes. Inspired by Rizal’s sculpture of an aspin’s toothy revenge on a reptilian behemoth that attempted to devour its offspring, Elicana juxtaposes the central image with a wriggling Chinese dragon flanked by foo dogs blankly gazing at the dramatic debacle at the center. The vibrant and textured scarlet background contrasts with the geometric patterns of the tiled floor; the pup sleeps on the floor, oblivious of the bestial brawling. As if to underline the intense life-and-death struggle, bright yellow chicks – familiar participants in wakes (háyà) – dot the painting. In one canvas, Elicana metaphorizes and frames maternity as geopolitical commentary: here is the mothering State in all its fire and fury, rage and rancor – especially when borders have been crossed.

There are also other canine and ovine figures, depicted with their whelps and festooned with metaphors of care and security. Still, while most of his canvases portray a remarkable menagerie of beasts, Elicana does not limit his symbolist projections to these: there are other figurations as well. A gauze-like gown of sheer material set against a crimson sky, from which leafless branches protrude. A nebulous mass of a corpulent female figure lying sideways, aspiring to maternal undertones. A curious installation composed of an unlit bulb hovering overhead, evoking the absent light in a present hearth (an image that is rather profoundly significant to the artist). Through the graphic and surreal hodgepodge, Elicana navigates between the intimate and the public, and at times, he blurs and shifts the dividing lines: the personal becomes the political.

Clearly, the fusion is deliberate, and it affirms what the artist wanted to say all along: maternity is a matter most political, contested, and volatile. As the wall-text fittingly notes, there are no Madonnas in Elicana’s exhibit – nor are there matriarchal structures or motherhood statements. Observably, there are only statements about the Self and the State.

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‘Madonna and Child’ will be on exhibit at Altro Mondo until April 5. The exhibit is supported by the Metrobank Foundation.

[The writer is the subject area coordinator for Social Studies in one of the private schools of the city. The photos are from Jirah Labanza.]