The Hearts

Oh these hearts! If memory recalls I bought so many heart molds to work on an installation piece that had over 1,000 hearts pouring out of the chest of Bontoc man. I’m sure I’ve made many times that amount in the years since. The first time I added them to my icon line as the main subject was actually for my family. I think I reused the hearts from the installation and made them for Christmas. Everyone got one. Later each family/house got a larger 12”x12“ of honey brown heats for the holidays. A couple of years ago someone contacted me after finding a larger one of red at a thrift store. That was pretty sweet.

I made individual hearts for friends, fundraisers, weddings and other projects. I sold quite a few at neighborhood markets, stores, and galleries. By far the best was for a project called “ikalat muna.” I would give out, leave them in places to be found or tag them in places with a card to see what folks did with them, when they sent back a picture. I had a lot of fun with that one.

The icons then merged to become a larger installation of 36 only shown once, in full, in 2016 and no great pictures. The installation included each of the following in each of the colors of the resin bow; clear/nothing inside, Ka symbol, Philippine soil, faith images, rice, and razor blades. The molds are not that great anymore, so I will need to see if I can get new ones. I do hope I can and make a few more of these. I’ll add older images as I can.