ART
EDUCATION
EDUCATION
EDUCATION
WORK
I explore ideas at the intersection of earth, history, embodiment, mysticism, ancestry and spirituality. My upbringing in Alaska, has informed a deep connection to my home and the earth. Throughout my life, I’ve sought wisdom held in natural elements such as ice and rock. From a Filipina/Angle-Scots American heritage, my work seeks to liberate, re-member history and facilitate growth through navigating and examining decolonization, resilience and the complexities of a mixed-race experience.
If you'd like to explore my murals checkout Murals
Immersive works, solo and group exhibitions
BFA in visual art with an emphasis in painting & drawing
As We Grieve
"As We Grieve" Group Work
Creative Director & Movement Artist | Performance piece
ROLE
WORK
As We Grieve is a multi-media ritual performance piece that explores collective and personal grief in relation to genocide and ethnic cleansing in Palestine. Through mediating the creative practices of Dan Gorelick, Raya Ward, and Marie-Therese Png, Bekah worked with each artist to create a container for a cross-disciplinary experimental work grounded in relational grief and communal support between the artists. As a catalyst, the piece centered contact with physical/sensory symbols of Palestinian land such as pomegranates, olive branches, sounds of mediterranean ocean and birds. Poetry was written by Marie-Therese Png, grief rituals and movement exploration by Raya Ward and Bekah Badilla, and music exploration and video/sound by Dan Gorelick. The piece’s first public exhibit took place at the Paper Kraine theatre in Manhattan on December 17th, 2023.
MULTI-MEDIA PERFORMANCE
Panarit
Bekah Badilla
Performers: Bekah Badilla, Raffy Bunal & Maxxine Evangelista
Video/Projection, Music, Silk Cocoons, Movement
6 Minutes
2023| The Paper Kraine Theatre, Manhattan NYC
Panarit
RITUAL/PERFORMANCE ART
Artist | Concept through Installation
ROLE
WORK
"Panarit"
1
“Panarit” is a video/sound and movement piece created by Bekah Badilla. It is a modern ritual piece in which dancers ask permission from the spirits before affecting the earth. In many Pilipinx cultures, it is customary to ask permission (“panarit” a contraction of “pagsarit” which means “asking for permission” in the Waray language) from spirits/ancestors (“diwata”) before actions that will affect the earth or “middleworld”. The piece explores themes of ecological grief and non-linear healing of past, present and future generations in relation to the earth. It also explores Indigenous belonging and ancestral healing through Waray language reclamation. Music and dance are core to Pilipinx culture and an integral medium of spiritual, communal and ancestral connection in both past and present day communities. The choreography seeks to explore choreographed and free movement, communal belonging and embodiment.
The music was written and produced by Badilla and sung in the native Waray language of Eastern Visayas. The projected visuals are videos taken by Badilla in her home in Aani Southeast Alaska, Turtle Island, South America and SE Asia.
Translation:
Return
The bridge that was wood is now metal.
The sky that was blue is now red.
Ask permission first from the spirits
I am divine being
Waray Waray
I won’t forget you
Return to me
Return
Acknowledgements:
Salamat language and culture facilitator @bababisaya for inspiring new work
Salamat @paperkraineproductions for the space and amazing collection of performances.
Ablation
"Ablation" Solo Exhibition
Artist | Video/sound, drawing/painting & installation
ROLE
WORK
“Daunted by the immensity of my geological elders and intrigued by the strangeness of it all, I sought to uncover the humanity within them. As I observed the way glaciers have ablated, the way mountainsides have eroded into sand, I saw one of the purest forms of the human experience—loss.”— Badilla | Artist Statement
Through my experiences growing up in Alaska near an icefield and subsequently guiding people through these magnificent geological wonders, I began to see how loss surrounds us. The meeting of the edge of a mountain and the beginning of a glacier is pure chaos, but the process brings life and needed minerals to the ocean. It’s violent—suggesting the true nature of growth is rooted in the conflict of opposing forces. It is the ablation of our existence that is the substance of our purpose.
SOLO EXHIBITION
