121.9 x 151.1 cm
In Spirit Ecologies, Baler-based multi-disciplinary artist Catalina Africa explores her relationship with the land around her, and the energies or spirits it holds within.
Having left the chaos of Metro Manila to seek a more peaceful life by the sea, Africa mentions that the body of work behind Spirit Ecologies emerged from reflecting on the true meaning of community:
“I don’t see many people aside from my family. I began to feel insecure and worried about who my community was, and then I realized that community doesn’t necessarily have to refer to humans—my community is my developed relationship with the land. The plant beings, the elements are my community. I refer to all of [them] as spirits… and the works in the show are my effort to connect with the land.”
After nearly a decade in Baler, Catalina Africa’s art mirrors deepening relationship with nature, and her role as a vessel for spirits to reveal themselves through her creations. Africa refers to her works as “inner landscapes,” as a way of honoring the wisdom and gifts from the natural world. Spirit Ecologies features four focal works, including a painting from 2022.
Merging Auras/Plant Bodies features a humanoid figure at the center of the painting, representing Africa’s own aura. The symmetrical figure radiates multicolored beams of light, evoking the Flower of Life—a symbol of creation and the unity of all things. In the solar plexus of the humanoid figure is a glowing tree; a homage to the dangkalan or bitaog tree in the artist’s neighborhood. The tree has often been a subject of Africa’s paintings, and is symbolic of her ongoing study of plant spirit medicine.
In the painting, the tree pulsates and glows like a heart, symbolizing its innate generosity and how trees in general sustain us: the air we breathe, shade on hot days, fruit to nourish us, and even timber for building and for warmth. It is a visual reminder that trees are more than physical entities: they contain life-sustaining ecosystems that are vital to our own survival, and even inspire spiritual evolution.
Plant Spirit Communication: Makahiya continues to delve into the realm of plant spirit medicine.
The painting features the humble makahiya, an endemic Philippine shrub with leaves that fold inward when touched. With its finger-like leaves, and pink thread-like flower petals tipped in white as if touched by a diwata, the makahiya is also known as “touch-me-not” or “sensitive plant” in English.
Africa looks to the makahiya for guidance, seeing it as a teacher from the natural world. Its prickly thorns serve as defense mechanisms, illustrating how sensitive, having boundaries, and touch are all divinely interconnected: that our connection with the natural world is deeper than we realize. At the foot of the painting are little baubles from Africa’s collections: stones, corals, and crystals. These are humble offerings to appease the spirits; a reminder that they have not been forgotten.
Spirit Ecologies/Tree of Life is a monumental piece that spans 6x8 feet, and once again features Africa’s recurring muse, the dangkalan/bitaog tree. She refers to it as the “guardian tree,” a steward of the portals between physical and spiritual realms. When looking at the painting, the bright colors and brushstrokes sing with life-giving wisdom. From its roots, curling lines of energy extend upwards to the tree’s canopy, symbolizing that the tree is alive and well. Beside the tree, a bright orange sphere floats, which Africa says appeared to her in a dream, deepening her affinity with it.
“I woke up with a start and knew in my heart that the tree was calling to me.”
The bitaog tree stands as a testament to ancestral wisdom and a reminder that everything, from nature to humanity, is interconnected, and that we are not alone.
Imagining the Aquifers (Studies on the Movement of Water) illustrates the geographical and geological topography of a landscape that is familiar to Catalina: a map of the creek by her home.
“On rainy days I like to follow it right back to its source—mainly a seasonal waterfall that starts at the valley of two mountains, and also some tiny seasonal streams that awaken when it's rainy season.”
The artist imagines the water’s journey, flowing in multiple paths both above and underground. The streams are painted like threads, which signify water as a living, sentient being that weaves together all the other elements because it sustains us and gives us life. The translucent rainclouds scattered across the painting point to parts of the land that need nourishment, as if the water knows instinctively where it’s needed the most.
Practicing Starlight Vision/Creating My Own Cosmologies gives us a chance to see Africa’s more playful side.
In her own words: “I guess that’s why my painting approach is not at all pictorial…NAH, I want to PLAY. I want to forge new neural pathways in my brain and expand myself through painting.”
Upon first glance, a butterfly-like silhouette appears, sectioning the painting into quarters with different colorful landscapes: Verdant forestscapes on the left, and celestial bodies on the right. At the bottom of the piece, a single jewel-red droplet anchors the painting. It could symbolize anything and many things: blood, vitality, sacrifice. All the elements come together to remind the viewer of our connection with the natural and cosmic forces at play around us.
The artist leaves room for the audience to glean their own interpretations. Perhaps it is this practice of inviting openness within herself that allows her work to foster a sense of curiosity and wonder to the viewer, allowing them to dig deep and uncover new perspectives about her art.
Through Catalina Africa’s paintings, we are invited to a glimpse of her inner landscapes, and her role as a vessel of communicating the messages from the non-human entities that occupy the earth. Spirit ecologies exist all around us, if we allow ourselves to take a closer look.
Timmy Potenciano
