There’s much to learn from small creatures. Insects, for instance, are known for their teamwork, adaptability, and ability to undergo metamorphosis.
For artist Dex Fernandez, the hardy garapata (tick), an arachnid known for its perseverance and focused instinct for survival, became his creative inspiration.
Using this parasite as a symbol for his whimsical visual narratives, Fernandez transformed his fascination for the creature into a reimagined Garapata neighborhood. Here, each entity is distinct, with a human-like personality and always interconnected amid its vibrant ecosystem.
With the rawness, community-centricity, and spontaneity of street art, Garapata murals have brought life to the walls of the Ayala walkway and the outdoor spaces of PETA Theater and Pinto Art Museum.
In his third solo show, ‘GC4: A Walk Home’ at West Gallery, Fernandez magnifies the sturdy creatures anew as a parallel microcosm of human society.
This time, he puts a ‘human face’ on the garapata. Or rather, he puts the garapata on the human face.
From more than 300 portraits of his friends, family, and colleagues-people who are all interconnected with the artist-Fernandez uses photo prints as canvas, covers each face with a ‘Garapata’ cutout, and makes mini-collages out of the colorized images, playing it up further with threads, spray paints, and acrylic.
In this Garapata world, the creatures have become humans, and the walk home refers to the community, built in human and Garapata time.
Against the neatly arranged mixed-media portraits, Fernandez transforms the gallery into a frenzied tick’s nest, painting its four walls with Garapata life.
In reality, the garapata is not a social creature. Multiple ticks seem to gather together merely because they have been directed to the host by chemical signals.
In Fernandez’s murals, the Garapatas stick together and let each other be.
‘But one thing constant is their never-ending determination to keep walking, looking for a host. Their journey represents our own human life. For as long as we live, the quest for survival is basic, and it just doesn’t end with physical needs but also with finding connection and purpose,’ said the artist.
Staying buoyant
A Thirteen Artist Awardee of the Cultural Center of the Philippines in 2013, Fernandez mentioned his own challenges as an artist-dealing with realities like funding and working with available resources.