Abigail (Abby) Linatoc Mendoza (they/she) is a second-generation Filipino-American mixed-media artist, facilitator, and rising art therapist from the suburbs of Chicago, IL. Their work explores identity and space, and their practice centers the community resilience model (CRM) and positive youth development approaches. Abby centers their identity as an artist first, but applies their training as a therapist in formal educational spaces such as conferences and higher education settings across the US while also facilitating in nontraditional spaces such as online workshops and open studios. Their practice is versatile and driven by the need for therapy to be more accessible to everyone, particularly marginalized, queer, Black, Indigenous, and people of color. In line with the continuous exploration of the intersections of their Filipino-American identity with the many parts of themself, Abby values the client’s lived experience and aims to use art therapy to shift “what is given” into “what is possible.”
This project is a reflection on the exploration of the relationship between the “traditional” and “familiar.” In a reclamation of materials and the intention of their usage, I find place in my practice through positionality. I explore this positionality through the exploration of my Filipino-American roots and by examining how my experiences as an artist and art therapist have reshaped my understanding of materials and media.
I am driven by youth culture and strive for a practice that empowers BIPOC youth by validating their lived experiences and uplifting their voices in spaces so that they always know they matter and belong. In wanting this for future generations, I explored my own story through a mural that blends elements of my Filipino culture and upbringing (i.e. usage of my baby photos and tarpaulin, a fabric commonly used in the Philippines as a banner material for celebrations and political campaigns) with the Western environment in which I was raised (i.e. the depiction of the city of Chicago through oil painting).
Having explored the colonial roots of oil painting, I blended my BFA in Painting training in this “traditional” method with the use of a material that is culturally “familiar.” This mural aims to validate my path and practice as “neither this nor that,” but my own truth. In my exploration, I hope that others are also inspired to explore their own histories, examining the truth in what they understand as “tradition” and the impact of systems of oppression on identity formation.
Lakbay II, 2023. Oil on Tarpaulin, Rope, Hooks.
Lakbay II, 2023. Oil on Tarpaulin, Rope, Hooks.Close-up image of mural.
Lakbay II: Interaction, 2023. Tarpaulin, Grommets, L-Hooks, Paint Markers.Viewers are invited to interact with the question prompt by writing their answers on the provided sheets of tarpaulin and markers. Answers may be written or drawn, and the tarpaulin sheets are to be hung on the hooks provided.