WEYBURN – A new exhibit, entitled “Tadhana” or Fate, opened on Saturday afternoon with a reception at the Weyburn Art Gallery with artist Patrick Fernandez.
Currently based in Regina, Fernandez immigrated from the Philippines, and based the exhibit on the Filipino concept of “Bahalana”, or “come what may”, a strong belief many of his countrymen have as a fatalistic acceptance of their circumstances.
“It’s a prevalent attitude of Filipinos, accepting that everything happens for a reason, and that reason is always divine,” said Fernandez.
In his talk at the reception, he said his experiences as an immigrant are also intermixed into the imagery, and a part of his exhibit are casts of feet with votive candles in each, cast from his wife’s feet.
Fernandez noted that many Filipinos come to Canada because “the grass is greener on the other side”, but they then find the grass is not necessarily greener.
“We are made of every experience, good or bad,” he said, adding one of the factors he’s faced is systemic racism as an immigrant.
In his artistic statement for the exhibit, he said, “These bodies of work will explore ideas of ‘fate’ while relating it to the quest for hierarchy of the modern society. We live in a time that is always hungry for accomplishment, results and the evidence of success.”
He explained that his works have imagery from re-imagined folklore from the Philippines, “in order to give new meaning on how fate will lead us to one’s self-discovery and freedom.”
He organized and founded several art collectives in the Philippines, and organized art festivals and community events in his home province of Pangasinan on the island of Luzon, north of Manila.
He and his family moved to Regina in 2017, and he currently serves as a member of the board of directors of the Regina Art Gallery, and is co-director for The Woods Artspace.
His works have been shown in exhibitions in the Philippines and around Southeast Asia, North America and Europe.
