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Lot Essay
Ben Cabrera's Conquest and Resistance is an acrylic collage work that is based on the Japanese Occupation of the Philippines during World War 2 around 1942.Cabrera's work makes a point of introducing a narrative that is important to the history of the Philippines. His montage of images, convey the sense of flashbacks into the past that still continue to haunt Filipinos. Cabrera's works are known for their historical references and thus this work is no different because it draws from reality and leaves its visual impact raw and without the soft-focus fiction.
The viewer is drawn towards the image of the little girl, who is being led away reluctantly by the Japanese soldier. The viewer is left to wonder if she is being led away to her uncertain future and inevitably, her doom. The dissemination of the tranquility of her childhood is an allegory for the shattering of the peace that Filipinos enjoyed before World War 2. Her reluctance can also be interpreted as being the resistance of the Filipinos and the courage and strength which bonded them together during the war. Her yellow dress can be seen as being the yellow robe of shame, which hung upon the shoulders of this young country whose youth and culture were being raped. The emptiness that the viewer is left with after being haunted by the image, is what makes Conquest and Resistance a visually arresting work of art that leaves the viewer captive.
The viewer is drawn towards the image of the little girl, who is being led away reluctantly by the Japanese soldier. The viewer is left to wonder if she is being led away to her uncertain future and inevitably, her doom. The dissemination of the tranquility of her childhood is an allegory for the shattering of the peace that Filipinos enjoyed before World War 2. Her reluctance can also be interpreted as being the resistance of the Filipinos and the courage and strength which bonded them together during the war. Her yellow dress can be seen as being the yellow robe of shame, which hung upon the shoulders of this young country whose youth and culture were being raped. The emptiness that the viewer is left with after being haunted by the image, is what makes Conquest and Resistance a visually arresting work of art that leaves the viewer captive.