“Visions of Eden presents a visual narrative of my family’s journey as first-generation Filipino immigrants in America, explored through the mythological frameworks of Christian doctrine and the American Dream.

Drawing from my religious upbringing and early migratory experiences, I interrogate the truth behind these inherited mythologies and the flawed notion of paradise—a home from which we have been exiled and endlessly seek to rediscover. For many abroad, America is imagined as a modern-day Eden—a land of milk and honey, wealth, and abundance. What is our forbidden tree? What is gained or sacrificed in the pursuit of heaven?

Conceived as a book-based experience, the work combines original photography with appropriated imagery from children’s Bible storybooks and personal family archives—snapshots, letters, and video stills—offering a layered window into the complexities of faith, both spiritual and ideological.”

Visions of Eden

© Ryan Frigillana

Self-published: June 2020

Hardcover, 210x262x19 mm, 454 grams

120 pages, 83 images

11 tipped-in vellum prints

1 loose insert

First edition of 20