Bea Rubio-Gabriel
It was the end of an exhibition opening, cross-legged on the ground with leftover wine, sharing cigarettes under the outdoor light of a closed café ---I was asked about why I work so hard. I could work harder. My parents intimately understand perseverance in a way I never will. As their responsibility crosses/d oceans, their labour stretches beyond mine. (That will be something for me to inherit later.) I am busy but I am slow, erratic. Too many heavy plates. I swim caught in a riptide. Drowning for a moment before floating back up to the surface to keep swimming once more. I do not long to work hard. I actually love to swim.
(performance excerpt)
Bea Rubio-Gabriel, Installation View. Image Courtesy of University of Melbourne.
Bea Rubio-Gabriel, tiaga at tiis, Citizenship certificates (framed, performance), 1hour 16min, 2024, Image courtesy the artist
Bea Rubio-Gabriel, tiaga at tiis, performance (reading), 35min, 2024, Image courtesy the artist
Bea Rubio-Gabriel, tiaga at tiis, performance (didactic installation), 1min, 2024, Image courtesy the artist
Bea Rubio-Gabriel, asenso, family photograph, 1997/2024, Image: Carolyn Gabriel
Bea Rubio-Gabriel, walis, performance (jar of rice, sweeping), 43min, 2024, Image courtesy the artist
Bea Rubio-Gabriel, maharlika bagong bayani, acrylic paint, framed Philippine Labour Code, veto document of former President Rodrigo Durtete, jar of rice, Balikbayan Box, kumot at unan, English-Tagalog dictionary, ruled legal pad, pencils, 2024, Image courtesy the artist
Faculty of Fine Arts and Music
University of Melbourne