Andre Buenacosa

Image © Andre Buenacosa

Artist Statement

My project “Balik” revolves around the ideas of identity, family, and a sense of place. In the Fall of 2020 my parents retired and moved back to their home country of the Philippines, a home among the mango trees and the sea breeze. Growing up in rural West Texas I have only known one home to associate with my parents, identity inherently tied to the place we inhabited. In the year of 2023 I made the trip to my 'ethnic homeland' to visit my parents and their new life. The trip was an exploration into my own the complexities of being a part of the Filipino diaspora, and what the idea of home is, however evolving. My perception of my parent's identity evolved as I witnessed them pick up a life that was once theirs before immigrating to the USA, and before creating a family. Stories of the past filled my imagination of times long ago as we walked promenades and lush green streets that my parents once haunted in their youth. My parents' new life was vivid and comforting, but also a departure from a life that me and my sibling were once tied to. As I spent time with my parents I also confronted my own 'foreignness' to the lands that were always called 'home' as we grew up in the deserts of the West. What is home and how does that change?

Andre Buenacosa | Portland, OR