Santiago was selected by the Art Gallery and La Prairie and her two paintings A Seat at the Table (Magulang) and A Seat at the Table (Kapatid) will enter the Art Gallery’s Collection. These tender portraits depict two generations of Santiago’s family, her parents and her sister, with magulang translating to ‘parents’ and kapatid to ‘sibling’ in Tagalog.
A Seat at the Table (Magulang) depicts the artist’s nanay (mother) and tatay (father) at one end of a table laid with lechon (roast pig), banana leaf and a bird of paradise flower. A Seat at the Table (Kapatid) is an inverted portrait of Santiago seated next to her sister at a table laid with narcissus daisies and a python snake, a symbol of temptation and sin. The works also feature marks made by Santiago’s three young children, who are credited as artistic collaborators in much of her work.
Art Gallery senior curator of contemporary Australian art Beatrice Gralton said, ‘Marikit’s paintings probe the artist’s relationship between art and life, career and family, myth and reality. Using oil paint and gold leaf alongside humble materials such as cardboard boxes and Texta, Marikit produces rich and detailed compositions, layered with cultural and religious symbolism. Her deeply personal and meticulous practice explores her lived Filipina-Australian experience through the canon of Western art history. These paintings are a love letter to her family, her culture and Australia.’
copyright:Left: Marikit Santiago 'A Seat at the Table (Magulang)' 2022, acrylic, oil, pen, 23.75K gold leaf on found cardboard, 122cm x 83cm, collaboration with Maella Santiago, Santi Mateo Santiago and Sarita Santiago, Art Gallery of New South Wales, La Prairie Art Award 2024 © Marikit Santiago, photo: Garry Trinh, courtesy the artist.
Right: Marikit Santiago 'A Seat at the Table (Kapatid)' 2022, acrylic, oil, pen on found cardboard, 122cm x 83cm, collaboration with Maella Santiago, Santi Mateo Santiago and Sarita Santiago, Art Gallery of New South Wales, La Prairie Art Award 2024 © Marikit Santiago, photo: Garry Trinh, courtesy the artist.