Bloom in the Moonlight

By Kathryn (Kat) Wadel | From Issue One (Fall 2025)

A digital illustration depicting a long, purple haired woman, with the moon as a halo behind her head. Before her is a night bloom flower opening, surrounded by warm yellow, gold and white light, which are blurred like bokeh. There are dewdrops near the pistils of the flower.

“Bloom in the Moon Light” by Inday Kat Calumba (Kathryn Wadel) is an original digital painting inspired by Nathalie De Los Santos’ Filipino Fairy Tales, Mythology and Folklore - Episide 63 - Lady of the Nightbloom. Using harmonious yellow and violet hues Kat visualizes a snapshot moment of Evangelina’s transformation from human to flora under the light and protection of Mayari.

As an artist this story resonated with Kat’s experience working in community-based arts. After feeling a loss of self, painting “Bloom in the Moon Light” became a moment of reclamation to honour her identity as an act of self-care in a colonial society. When the spirit of Kapwa is cooped by the colonizer, Kat seeks solitude under the protection of Mayari to recharge and to flourish in the moonlight.

Kathryn (Kat) Wadel is an interdisciplinary artist and second generation Filipina-Canadian who works and resides on the unceded and traditional territories of the Coast Salish First Nations people. Kat is learning about her Filipino heritage through storytelling, art, food and online content from a de-colonial perspective. She holds a BFA degree from Emily Carr University of Art + Design and hybridizes drawing, painting, sculpture and community engagement to express contemporary relationships between art, culture, science and social practice. Kat’s work has been featured in various exhibitions and festivals in British Columbia. A selection of her work is in private collections across Canada. Visit kathrynwadel.com to connect and learn more about her art practice.