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Nona Garcia / The Philippines b.1978 / Hallow (detail) 2015 / Glazed digital backlit film / © The artist / Installation view, Blanc Gallery, Manila / Courtesy: The artist and Blanc Gallery / Photograph: MM Yu
Nona GarciaHallow 2015
Not Currently on Display
Hallow 2018 uses the large windows at the entrance of the Queensland Art Gallery as natural light boxes, similar to stained-glass windows in a church. For her artwork, she has arranged the X-rayed bones of animals into a mandala design — a symmetrical pattern comprised of concentric circles. Each bone is placed in patterns that look like flowers and spirals from a distance. It is only when you look closely that you can see they are tiny parts of an animal’s spinal cord or skull. The artist uses the bones of hyenas, camels, crocodiles, beavers, birds and deer, as well as coral in her artworks, which are celebrations of life and reminders of death.
Nona Garcia grew up in Manila in the Philippines, with doctors for parents, and she spent a lot of time at the hospital where they worked. As a young girl, she used the hospital’s X-ray equipment to view everyday objects in a new way. As an artist, she creates works that explore the hidden meanings of objects.