Tropical Realness
2020
23 artificial palms, paint, sand, wood, concrete
40 ft x 90 ft x 8 ft
Exhibited at the Monroe Center social zone in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and made possible by Downtown Grand Rapids, Inc.
Photos by Erika Townsley + Downtown Grand Rapids, Inc.
I created Tropical Realness as a playful self-portrait. As a gay man born in America to Filipino parents, I represent myself through this installation with the American symbol of an “exotic” artificial palm plant coupled with a prideful color scheme. I hope that visitors will consider their own identities and strategies of self-representation as they wander through the outdoor installation. In this incredibly challenging year of a global pandemic and the fight for racial justice, the individual palm trees of different colors stand at a distance from each other but unite together as a beautiful and hopeful rainbow.
