An expressionistic triptych and twelve naïve paintings framed back-to-back in wooden porthole-like frames line the walls of La Union-based artist Joar Songcuya’s installation; its shape simulates the bow of a ship. The viewer is asked to move through silence and rage. Attain balance and inner peace while swaying in a stormy sea.

​

The title of his piece, Byahe sa Pacifico: Ang Taguangkan, Ang Sapat, kag Ang Kalayo (Voyage to the Pacific: The Womb, The Beast, and The Fire) pays tribute to his mother’s native tongue, Hiligaynon. Each thick and thin chaotic stroke releases the terror of discovery, resurfacing of memories, the traumas of abuse, and quelling of fears towards healing. Like a phoenix, he rises out of ashes to share his stories within a story screaming to be heard.

​

Joar’s paintings/installation featured in the ALT Discoveries section are expressions of traumas devoid of verbal language. These fragmented memories laid bare in his featured works are founded in the struggle to find strength in vulnerability. Upon looking and listening deeply to the painterly motions of fear, anguish, anger, and catharsis, experiential empathy arises. One must venture into varying degrees of darkness in order to move into the light. A light that only gets brighter as the flames of a catastrophic fire gradually extinguish.

​

— Angel Velasco Shaw