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Cristine Blanco in /digital room/

Note by Guest Juror Dorothy Santos
Blanco’s 20 Days in April series uses the window as a metaphor for longing and waiting. Within a mere 60 seconds, I see shifts on a spring day and am only given the information of a specific cardinal direction–South, West, and East. The subtle changes of each window suggest a study of light and of an opening we might take for granted. An opening that enables various elements to traverse between the immediate outside world and the inside of a private, enclosed space. A window enables us to see and be seen. Unlike the fast-moving images we often consume, Blanco’s work allows for a slowing down of the mind to watch carefully and with a stillness that goes against the speed of the Internet we have become familiar with. Her work is as powerful as it is potent in its subtlety.

Artist Statement
At this point in time, we are forced to cope with climate injustices, the precarity of resources, a pandemic, all of which have reframed the meaning of home and community. Calling attention to the odd and uncomfortable, I create a sensory vernacular by making sculpture, video and installation. Inspired by my grandmother’s home in the Philippines, I explore the impact of rising sea levels and consider how human connectivity and adaptation are essential to recovery and transformation.
Through repetition, reenactment and reconstruction, I process and make sense of a constantly evolving world. As an artist working in this context, I consider my role in documenting personal and global changes. As the foundations of our lives collectively shift, where can I create moments of reflection and possibilities?