Meeting Yesterday in Paradise: Profile of Stephanie Comilang

At the end of a short trip to Vancouver, having failed to catch exhibitions at two other galleries (alas, summer hours), I trailed into Artspeak, a bit defeated but grateful to see a fortress of gray and crimson pillows on the carpeted floor. A two-channel video installation was being looped on a tall white wall, bifurcated by a wide obtuse angle to accommodate the split screen. I reclined and began to watch Stephanie Comilang’s Yesterday, In the Years 1886 and 2017 (2017), a 10-minute film commissioned by the gallery’s director Bopha Chhay. Over a shimmering electronic track by NaEE Roberts (also known as Sandra Mujinga) and Elysia Crampton, with whom Comilang has worked previously, a high-pitched, disembodied voice recited a poem in Tagalog. I read the subtitles in English.

• Philippines
• Canada