Gomahan (2023), mixed media installation (natural rubber, acrylic paint, and wood), dimensions variable

Imagining a rubber tree being stripped of multiple layers of its bark or skin, Gomahan reckons with the violent exploitation and extraction of Philippine natural resources under the relentless drive of global capitalism alongside unsustainable practices rooted in colonialism. The rubber tree—which is indigenous to South America and was brought over by British imperialists to Southeast Asia where it is now largely cultivated today—produces sap that is harvested and used in a multitude of global products including car tires that contribute to air pollution, waste, and fossil fuel burning on a massive scale. As countries like the Philippines become consequential sites of extraction that are stretched to the limits while also facing the immediate effects of climate change, Gomahan traces the enduring legacy of colonialism in Philippine ecology and our consumption of ubiquitous materials which come from a long history of environmental exploitation and the disproportionate impacts of global capitalism in the developing world.