Breakfast

In working on this exhibition, Gabby Prado remembers how every morning unfolds: her family seated together on the dining table, and the olfactory senses work their way and produce images that take their rounds in her mind. The artist believes that breakfast signifies something more than fulfilling dietary requirements; it is a specific custom defined by the time of the day and how it is done across cultures. The transformation of food in every region is tied with its history and communal narratives. For instance, the breakfast meal Tapsilog might as well capture the aftermath of colonization and our connection to the Chinese, Spanish, and American empires in one plate: fried rice, seared meat, and eggs. While examining these associations in our food is essential in understanding our history as a nation, Prado’s “Breakfast” sheds light on the idea of how such a ritual becomes part of herself.

Gabby Prado (b. 1995) is a visual artist who narrates her aesthetic journey in a series of paintings and sculptures derived from her experiences. After years of training in performance, specifically dancing, Prado envisioned a way to transform movement into large scale art. Her abstract paintings rely on bodily movements and expressions to translate personal memories to visual representations and to advocate a better understanding of our personal sensory narratives. Prado received her BFA (Painting) from the University of the Philippines, Diliman.