This is a gicleé art print with archival ink, so the colors are bold, they will not fade, and it feels rich! Every print is personally signed, making it a high-quality original gift or item to hang up on your walls. It measures 4.25 x 7 inches on thick watercolor paper and is packaged in a plastic sleeve with a cardboard backing.

Please note: The colors on your monitor may be slightly different from those on the printed product. All prints are shipped the following week in a flat, rigid cardboard envelope to ensure safe delivery. :)

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As a second-gen Filipina-American, I was always stuck between wanting to know more about Filipino culture while also wanting to reject it. My parents didn’t teach me Tagalog bc they wanted me to excel in English and they were more interested in American customs than Filipino ones. I ended up studying Tagalog for a few years despite this, got involved in the clubs, and even took part in events where I performed Filipino folk dances and songs.

But the more I immersed myself in the culture, the more I began to see the uglier parts of it — aversions to dark skin and idolization of white skin, the berating tendencies in simple disagreements, the insatiable standard to be skinnier or chubbier, the shared disgust of thick “fob” accents between Filipinos with little or no accent. I grew up not really being able to confide in first-gen Filipinos bc communication wasn’t realistic and I found refuge in friends of other ethnicities.

And that’s what this illustration is about. Although this pup only knows life among the flowers — what it’s like to dress like them, eat like them, grow with them — something is not quite right. His identity and his belonging is in question.

Over time, I realized there were so many other Fil-Ams who wanted to connect to their roots but found it too mentally taxing to do so. While this is an unfortunate reality, it gives me hope that our Filipino/Fil-Am culture is transforming into a much more accepting one. And with that, I will never turn down a bowl of my aunt’s sinigang, or an opportunity to get teased by my first-gen friends for my broken Tagalog, or even a chance to defend a fellow Asian who has been silenced. I’m learning about and celebrating my roots while correcting harmful behaviors whenever I feel I can, and I think that’s enough for now.