a prayer for true love (2025)

description

FOotage of ‘contestant number 8- nilda brown, Mrs Asia Pacific NZ Pageant’ (2023) laid over footage of ‘One of Your Girls’ - developed and performed by Bobby Odyssey (2024)

Audio titled ‘Steady’, a piano arrangement composed and mixed by Bobby Odyssey

This work is an expression of grief endured by relentless stereotypes of the exoticised filipino woman. Growing up, I was exposed to a strong relationship between succeeding as a woman and being desired by men.

Feminine beauty and aesthetics have become synonymous with success as an Asian woman, which at times has alienated me from my body and made me feel the need to compete with important women in my life, including my mum, who competes in pageantry.

I chose to pair this visual piece with a piano arrangement to further explore the tension I experience with what I love deeply. My father and I had a very tense relationship, and simultaneously he was a brilliant pianist. Though my childhood was permeated with uncertainty and fear of his disapproval, I used to find comfort in his music each night.

He would play the piano that lived next to my bedroom. I used to stick my legs up against the wall and feel the vibrations of the melody as it lulled me to sleep, and still find deep serenity when I play from time to time.