Canada-Based Filipino Artist Marigold Santos Bags Major Prize in Art SG

(SPOT.ph) A Filipino-Canadian artist by the name of Marigold Santos surprised many at the just-concluded Art SG, Singapore’s premier art fair that gathers works from top and emerging contemporary artists the world over. Marigold Santos—how Pinoy is that name!—won the first ever Art SG Futures Prize and 10,000 USD, impressing everyone with the uniqueness of her aswang series in ink drawings and etchings on paper.

The Philippine-born Santos is an interdisciplinary artist (she also does tattoos and sculptures). She immigrated to Canada with her family when she was seven. It is said she was very keen in adapting to the Canadian culture growing up but would find herself reconnecting to her roots as she got older, going as far as getting fascinated with Philippine folklore. Her work has been described as examining “notions of heritage, folklore, motherwork and decolonization presented within the otherworldly. Her paintings, drawings, sculptures and tattoo work explores self-hood and identity that embraces multiplicity, fragmentation, and empowerment as informed by diasporic experiences.”

The Futures Prize recognizes the best work in Art SG’s Futures section. Santos’s work “stood out for its originality and resonance within a section dedicated to newly commissioned works created specifically for ART SG,” according to the fair's official website. She was represented in the fair by Toronto’s Patel Brown Gallery.

Art SG welcomed over 43,000 visitors in its fourth edition, which ran from January 22 to 25 at the Marina Bay Sands and different parts of the Lion City. This iteration also gathered more than a hundred exhibitors from 30 different countries. According to the fair, "the FUTURES Prize reflects a shared commitment by ART SG and UBS to nurturing emerging talent, fostering innovation, and supporting the next generation of creative voices in the art world. The FUTURES sector itself spotlights rising artists represented by young galleries established within the past ten years, offering a glimpse into where contemporary art is headed next."

Santos was chosen by a jury that included Director of Museum MACAN Venus Lau, Director of Triangle Network Alessio Antoniolli, and Director (Collections, Public Art, Programmes) at the Singapore Art Museum, Khim Ong.