Chloe Caday’s, Flowers of the Divine, Sampaguita, is part of her latest series, Diwata’s Song. This work is based on the story of two lovers, Guita (a princess) and Sampa (a slave) who hid away deep into the forest before being pursued by soldiers under the king’s orders. Feeling remorseful of his actions, Guita’s father visited the tomb of the two lovers and found a beautiful vine with aromatic white flowers that emitted a strong and unique scent. Naming the flower in their honour, the Sampaguita became a symbol of their undying love that would continue to blossom time after time.

Chloe says of her work: “The Flowers of the Divine paintings are based on the Filipino folk stories of forbidden lovers who continued to pursue their love until death. A story of passion, resilience, and purity, the flowers have become a prominent symbol of their love rebirthed back into the earth that continued to blossom time after time. Long before the Spanish colonisation in the Philippines, and the widespread of Western/Catholic ideas, it was commonly believed that the spirit of the departed would be reborn back into the earth – such as a flower, butterfly, moth, or a dragonfly. This belief continues to remain a sacred part of Filipino culture surrounding the afterlife, and its stories such as these hold the power to reconnect the modern world with history retold by not the colonists, but by our ancestors and the people of the land.”