At Silverlens Manila, Nicole Coson’s ‘Membranes’ finds meaning in the mundane

Conceptually, Membranes revolves around two everyday objects: the white styrofoam mesh material used to pack fruit to avoid bruising and plastic shipping crates—items viewed as typical and local in the Philippines and the global food trade. The latter manifests into creations made by pressing large canvases onto these crates. The resulting images resemble circuit boards, roads and pathways, suggesting a parallel between these vessels and urban planning.

These canvases are juxtaposed with ‘Vanitas,’ which serves as a response to fruit as a longtime symbol in art history, an element often used to showcase trade wealth, as seen in Dutch Renaissance paintings. Coson plays on this notion and reverses its perspective, highlighting how “exotic” fruits have turned into culinary staples in Filipino cuisine while obscuring indigenous significance. The styrofoam fruit casings, actually hyperrealistic sculptures made from 3D-printed polyamide, are modelled after “familiar fruit” like papaya, macopa, soursop, dragon fruit, jackfruit, pineapple and Philippine persimmon.

“I’d like for people to recognise and engage with the art,” Coson comments.

See also: Portraits of Brilliance: Mark Nicdao’s photographs find a home at the J Paul Getty Museum