Kadena is a collection of sculptures exhibited at Below Grand Gallery and curated by Mo Kong and Wangui Maina. It explores the intersection between feminism and the ecological crisis as it relates to the oppressive history against the body as told through the lens of her experience of immigrating from her native country, the Philippines.
Kadena — a word that means “chains” in Filipino, has its root in the Spanish word cadena. This exhibition features sculptural interpretations of the Cadena de amor — a vine like plant with small pink flowers that is widespread in the Philippines and is also found in Southeast Asia, Mexico, Africa and the Caribbean islands. The Cadena de amor, is an invasive weed that destroys the endemic plants within its environment. However, it has been cultivated and shipped due to its decorative properties. Poblador explores the the politics of immigrant culture and patriarchy through exploring how plants and flowers from developing countries are appropriated through trade. Her work attempts to decolonize these histories through the retelling of them.
The Cadena de Amor, is the plant’s Philippine name which is in Spanish— a language that exemplifies the colonial history of the Philippines and literally translates to “chains of love”. From 1934 to the 1960s, the flower was used as a symbol of the preservation of the imposed moral values of Filipino womanhood. Poblador’s work asks how these imposed values are rooted in colonialism and reflect the lack of agency that Filipino women have over their bodies, and how they are perceived in Western society. She explores this flower, as a visual and narrative symbol of decolonization and agency, and references the literal and symbolic chains imposed on Filipina/x women today. Kadena reflects on not just the chains against how the Filipina is perceived but also on the overarching oppressions against immigrant women and women of color.
top photo by JL Javier, 2024
bottom photo by
Anna Frumenti, 2021
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Email goldiepoblador@gmail.com for inquiries
Goldie Poblador is a visual artist who merges glass sculpture, performance, and video into multi-sensory installations that address themes of climate change and the emancipation of the female body.
Artist Biography
Goldie Poblador is a Filipina visual artist who creates multi-sensory installations that merge glass scent, sound and performance that address themes of ecology and decolonization as it relates to the emancipation of the female body.
Her work has been exhibited and performed internationally at such institutions as Artpace, The Corning Museum of Glass, Urban Glass, 601Artspace, The Knockdown Center, Saudi National Museum, The Rubin Museum, Singapore Art Museum, Bangkok Art and Culture Center, Fine Art Museum of Hanoi, Lopez Memorial Museum, Art Fair Philippines, Metropolitan Museum of Manila, The National Museum of the Filipino People and The Cultural Center of the Philippines.
She is the first Filipino artist to be acquired by the Corning Museum of Glass. She has received grants from the Foundation of Contemporary Arts, the University of the Philippines, the Puffin Foundation and a President’s Scholarship from the Rhode Island School of Design. She has completed residencies at Artpace, the Corning Museum of Glass, Oakspring Garden Foundation, MASS MoCa, and the Cité International des Arts. She received her BFA in Studio Arts from the University of the Philippines in 2009. In 2015, she obtained her MFA in Glass at the Rhode Island School of Design.
Registered as Goldieland Studio / New York, NY