Works in Progress

It’s winter now in the Northern Hemisphere. This means cooler temperatures for us islanders in the tropical concrete jungle of Manila. While wintering has a connotation with rest and caring for oneself through the harsh cold months, my studio practice is itself a sort of reprieve. Since moving to Manila 6 years ago, I have this sense of trying to understand where I am from. My relationship to my studio space has helped me through this time of change and upheaval. At the height of the pandemic, in the midst of months long lockdowns, the palm trees outside my studio window provided a solace and an anchor to the isolation. When I was able to visit my studio outside of the city, I would photograph the palm trees I encountered on my walks. 

Drawing from photographs and my own recollections of spaces I am familiar with, my recent paintings reveal an analytical, yet deeply personal re-imagining of one’s environment. This new series of paintings depicts lush tropical landscapes. The earliest work was made in the winter of 2020, just after Taal volcano erupted and blanketed my home studio in grey volcanic ash. The ceramic works, meanwhile, are studies on form, colour, and intuition. These works on cardboard and in glazed ceramics are made with tactile processes in mind. The underlying emotion is perhaps of grief, loneliness, and of isolation. Despite a seemingly gloomy outlook, I find contentment and joy in the process.