Romantic Conceptualism

Since moving to the Philippines, I have been taking walks near and around my home in New Manila and also around my studio in Cavite.  I was drawn to the tropical landscape for its symbol of paradise, and also for its symbol of an Imperialist bygone era. This wildness within the city, confirmed my idea of Manila as ‘every decaying and ever re-greening.’  As the writer Nick Joaquin wrote, ‘ the history of Manila can be put in 3 words: challenge and response’.  It almost seems as if every problem, every crisis, arises just to prove the aliveness of this city; continually destroyed and continually rebuilt, every decaying and ever re-greening.’