Samonte Cruz is a disabled, mixed-race, mixed-gender, Filipinx goldsmith, multi-media artist, educator & community organizer. Originally from the Seattle area, Samonte now lives & creates on unceded Sinixt Territory, in the beautiful mountains of British Columbia [BC].
After a serious spinal injury in 2010, Samonte’s abilities suddenly and drastically changed. In response to living with chronic pain, they began to seek out more accommodating opportunities for creative expression. In 2015, Samonte enrolled in the Kootenay School of the Arts jewelry program at Selkirk College, where a culture of adaptation & innovation allowed Samonte to develop as a metalsmith, despite physical limitations.
In addition to teaching beginner’s jewelry classes at Selkirk College & making custom jewelry for clients, Samonte is also developing a body of work titled, Filipinx Survivance: Contemporary Cultural Artifacts & Adornment, funded by Canada Council of the Arts, Columbia Basin Trust & Columbia Kootenay Cultural Exchange.
Samonte Cruz*
they/them
“My work plays with, and at times subverts, the moments of connection that we share between bodies, human and otherwise. The work interrogates the banal, the glorious, the perverse, and the traumatic, and situates our personal experiences of place and time in conversation with each other's. I like to think our memories of a place are embedded in objects and that objects reflect those stories back out to the world.”
*Juror’s Choice
Our jurors for [queerphoria] vol. 2: Adorned Serenity each chose an artist’s work that they wanted to highlight from the exhibition.
“My juror’s choice is Samonte Cruz’s piece, ‘Eternal Safe Space: Trans-cestors’ Funerary Mask’; an exceptional work for me in the show, because of how much it speaks to the absence of serenity that many trans/gender non-conforming people face in this current time; navigating the past, present and future traumas of existing in a world that systemically inflicts structural violence on our bodies in both life and death. By connecting with their cultural and lived experiences as a trans, Filipinx, disabled person, Samonte’s piece envisions a safe space beyond this realm; to access a sense of inner peace by claiming space in the present to protect and honor the dead, while creating a powerful connection to the legacies of their queer and trans Filipinx ancestors.
This 3-piece 22k gold funerary mask is a somber and beautiful testament to the adorned serenity that is rooted in diasporic queer/trans embodiment, and how to draw upon its power and protection in the face of violent colonial erasure. As this exhibition closes just before Trans Day of Remembrance, Samonte dedicated this piece to honor the 336 reported trans/gender non-conforming people that became ancestors too soon, losing their lives to anti-trans violence in 2023. In honoring their ancestral living legacies in the present moment, Samonte’s work uses the power of adornment to center the sacredness of queer/trans bodies, and create a wearable safe space that transcends beyond our time.”
"Navigating a heteronormative world that is obsessed with upholding the gender binary, while living in a trans/gender non-conforming body, does not exactly evoke a sense of inner peace. On the contrary, if gender dysphoria doesn’t cause enough anxiety, then experiences of discrimination, injustice and threats of violence will.
The reality is that for many of us, our trans/gender queer bodies are sites of past, present & future trauma. We are judged & ridiculed for our choices; while cis-folks happily pass laws that are created to keep us from accessing life-saving medical care. Trans & non-binary folks are often hyperaware, that what we have (or don’t have) in our pants, could potentially be used as a reason to incite violence against us. We are often made to feel like liabilities to our own well-being.
Year after year, we honor those we have lost due to anti-trans violence; a disturbingly disproportionate number of black, indigenous, & trans-femme/women of color being murdered. With Transgender Day of Remembrance occurring on November 20th, directly after this exhibition closes, it felt important for me to create something to honor the 336 reported trans/gender non-conforming people that have died in 2023.
My submission for Adorned Serenity is a three-piece funerary mask made from 22kt yellow gold. It consists of a diadem, eye cover & mouth cover; inspired by the ancient goldsmithing traditions & beliefs of the indigenous peoples from the ‘Philippine’ archipelago. My ancestors believed that gold stimulated the goodness of our souls. They also thought that gold had the ability to channel our ancestor’s energy. In addition, gold was worn as protection, especially near or on orifices; even in death, gold protects the wearer from malevolent spirits entering the body.
For me, nothing evokes a sense of inner peace & safety more than imagining my queer & trans ancestors being honored & protected in their deaths; especially for those who didn’t have the privilege of peace, and/or for those whose lives met a violent end. It’s my hope that this gift from my ancestors will help cultivate a peaceful resting place for those who are most vulnerable in our community; transforming the trauma our bodies carry into an eternal, embodied safe space."
How does your work relate to the theme Adorned Serenity—
How does the work function as a wearable safe space?
Eternal Safe Space: Trans-cestors’ Funerary Mask, 22kt yellow gold. Diadem: 26cm x 2cm x 0.25cm; Eye Cover: 13.3cm x 3.4cm x 0.45cm; Mouth Cover: 6.8cm x 2.85cm x 0.2cm; 2023
“This piece is rooted in ancient Filipino burial traditions & belief systems, but I think assigning attributes to objects, especially a metal as special as gold, can be a powerful way to approach life & death. (see previous answer)”
How do you see this piece existing in the world as a wearable safe space?
Or is this piece specific to you?
If someone found this piece and needed an instruction manual to make the safe space work — what’s a quick how to?
“Create an eternal safe space and honor your ancestors by adorning your dead with this golden funerary mask. For best results, place items on or near the head, eyes and mouth. Sit back and breath in peace.”
"The mask made from 22kt yellow gold rolled as thin as the rolling mill would go; modelled after paper thin gold funerary masks discovered in the Philippines. Formed using repoussé and chasing, a technique believed to be developed independent of outside influence.
This piece was informed by a year-long research project titled, Filipinx Survivance: Contemporary Cultural Artifacts & Adornment; funded by Canada Council for the Arts, Columbia Basin Trust and Columbia Kootenay Cultural Alliance. My goal was to study the history of colonization in the Philippiines, while imagining sacred ancestral objects, highlighting the skill & unique style of ancient Filipinx goldsmiths.
The recovery of gold artifacts from the Philippines over the last 40 years has uncovered the prosperity and achievement of indigenous Filipinos long before Spanish colonization. The spiritual importance of gold in particular is most evident when looking at the practice of burying their dead with gold funerary masks, in order to protect malevolent spirits from entering the deceased.
It’s my hope that creating contemporary cultural artifacts will help instill a sense of cultural pride for Filipinos in the diaspora, while encouraging the larger public to learn about and appreciate the lost history and traditions of goldsmithing in the Philippines. "
