Nicolei Buendia Gupit
Exhibition Text by Nicolei Buendia Gupit
Water is everywhere here but it is never enough. At my family’s home in Rosario, Cavite, we have no running water, so we draw from a well outside and bring in mineral water to supply ourselves with water. I found irony in the effort it takes to access water while living in an area so abundant with rainfall, flooding, and typhoons, right by Manila Bay.
I was drawn to the Philippines’ two opposing states of water—too much but never enough—because it impacts not only my family’s lives but also the lives of many people here. As I made the works for Searching for Water, I wanted to figure out how to use art as a vehicle to reimagine water and help different communities better recognize its value. Full text
