Footnotes

The work is accompanied by a photo-certificate of authenticity signed by the artist.

Provenance
Private Collection, Singapore

*Please note that this lot is located in Singapore. Buyer is responsible to arrange shipping from present location of lot to buyer's desired destination. To enquire shipping quote, please contact singapore@bonhams.com.


Marina Cruz is a Filipino painter who lives and works in Bulcan, Philippines. Cruz graduated from the University of the Philippines with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2003. Table Setting was painted in the year Marina Cruz won the 2007 Phillip Morris Philippine Art Awards; she subsequently went on to win the prestigious Ateneo Art Awards in 2008. The present lot is a seminal early work and the genesis of her ongoing leitmotif–memory and fabrics. In 2002, while searching her grandmother's cabinet for material, the artist chanced upon a baptismal gown, no longer pristine and white as the day it was worn. This discovery led Cruz to explore the links between objects and people.

In Table Setting, the table is draped with a white cloth that dominates the picture, dwarfing the solitary faceless and seated figure. On closer inspection, the diner can be identified by her attire. The green headdress and long skirt hint at a patadyong skirt and hat, while her etched white bib or panuelo and blouse further define her carriage as she sits cross-armed with elbows resting on the table. Textiles, weaving, and pattern have always been an integral part of Filipino heritage, tradition, and customs. Cruz's work picks up on this cultural tradition, bringing forth nuanced and insightful reflections on Filipino identity.