The thesis is a series of five serigraph prints on handmade paper appropriating the illustrative style of vintage primary school readers to satirize the so-called virtue of Filipino resilience depicted as absurd vignettes.

         The so-called virtue of our nation’s resilience can be traced back to the Philippines’ pacification by American colonial education. Being that early educational materials are manuals for what a model citizen is, the illustrations and tropes are adapted into absurd vignettes to satirize the romanticized resilience of our population in the face of modern-day city predicaments. The scenes are made absurd by the subjects who are comfortably placed and smiling through the otherwise jarring scenarios.

          The serigraph medium contributes to the mass-produced appeal of the illustrations. Each of the five prints are designated to a handmade paper ground composed with paper waste traces germane to its vignette. The involvement of papermaking is used to convey the redundancy of the depicted situations in our daily lives.