Nikki Luna

Lives and works in Balearic Islands, Spain

Artist statement

NIKKI LUNA 1977 Islas Filipinas / Islas Baleares Nikki Luna is known for her body of work which primarily tackles social/political concerns with a feminist lens. It covers—and is not limited to—misogyny, women used as weapons in war, and women’s human rights. Luna, has been immersed in the stories of marginalized women for over a decade. Her practice is tied to communities and has woven their narratives into art, re-contextualizing their experiences from a place of oppression into a position of power. With her passion for Women and girl-child rights in developing countries, she remains committed in bringing attention to the plight of the Filipino women and the violations committed against them. Luna, continues to work with various NGOs, government agencies, international organizations, academe, international women partnerships and art institutions bringing art focused activities on how to strengthen women and human rights standard, implementing art healing/ recovery programs for the women and children victims of gender-based violence and those displaced in conflict zones. Nikki Luna has earned her Masters in Arts and Learning at Goldsmiths London, attended the University of the Philippines for her Masters in Women and Development studies and completed her Bachelor of Fine Arts graduate from the same university. After graduating, she went on and took her art residency at the Cooper Union School of Art in New York. Luna, has represented the Philippines at the Cairo Biennale,...

Artwork

• Wardrobe series , 2018. Cast women’s (girls) clothes in resin, creating a wardrobe that tells the story of the violence done against them under regimes that traffic in abuse and misogyny. These vestments are a memorial to the way they have responded and resisted, a statement stripped of its fashion to lay bare the strength in vulnerability. Some of the other casualties are even younger, less than one year old girls.
• Salvaje, 2024. 14 k Gold, ruby, peineta colonial past from 400 years of Spanish oocupation
• Labor Landscape, 2023. sweat collected with the silk fabric from overseas Filipina women workers
• Dancing With A Dictator, 2019. 26 carved wooden shoe identical to Imelda Marcos shoe work during her husbands Presidential inauguration,
• Shoot The Vagina, 2018. Aluminum panel, M4 bullets fired exactly to follow my drawing (title qoute from former authoritarian PH President duterte
• Rebel Woman, 2011. resin, wedding dress lace, lightbox AK-47 as the people’s weapon used in wars waged against hegemonic powers through the introduction of the narrative of these textiles that tame the appearance of the rifles to a point of familiarity. Fusing the concept of intimacy and conflict, Luna points this weapon back home. Low-cost, reliable, and easy to maintain, the main advantages that made these arms successful are the very same characteristics that define the ideal female best suited for keeping home. In this vein, the artist imbues the weapons with an intense femininity both in form and content, while visualizing for us another war daily waged by another marginalized identity.
• Womanhood Is Weapon, 2016. “womanhood is weapon,” written in 5,000 cast bullets from Extra Judicial Killings under the duterte regime
• Ideal Woman, 2016. Cast Virgin Mary in Marble dust and Maternal Blood from Fabella Hospital Manila, Philippines (one of the busiest/crowded hospitals in the world. With young girls giving brith)
• Steely Bloom, 2022. bolo of their hometown used for both in the kitchen and in battlefield, these blades embody the silent battles of women who straddle uninterrupted care-giving and unattended need for self-care.
• Compartmentalize, 2009. lightbox, photos
• Comforter, 2011. Resin, comforter cast
• Transparent, 2009. voile cotton
• Crafted Spectacle, 2015. 9 beauty queen crowns, sound recording, womens voices,
• Consent, 2019. Fishing net from West Philippine Sea Fishermen, Fabric from fisherman's wife
• Look At Her, 2018. Mirror, Text, Acrylic,
• Value Is Measured By the Length of Her Skirt, 2016. 5000 cast ceramic 45 bullets, cast resin dress of the woman Vice Pres. of the Philippines, Video of Extra-Judicial Killings victim's wives
• Unmentionables, 2009. resin, lace, light box