1990-2010
ANG BABAYLAN [the healer]
1996 6'x6' oil on canvas
A "Babaylan" is a pre-colonial mystic healer in the Philippines that is usually female (and male dressed as female) whose "spiritual connectedness exudes political and social power."
This mural painting was commissioned by The Negros Center For Culture and up to this day is displayed at the Negros Heritage Museum as one of its main collections.
games of power
1996 acrylic on canvas 76"x53"
When we talk about Philippine politics and
democracy, there's this never-ending story of the Marcoses and its main detractors– the Aquinos. This narrative, which had two sides (one favoring the odds, and the other, likewise) is seen by the artist as
a social architecture of sorts, with both families playing out their best cards to uphold power and authority over the Filipino people.
paghimakas [struggling,striving]
2010 acrylic on canvas 76"x53"
An artistic exploration into the systemic and generational poverty that hopeful and hard working Filipinos below the poverty line struggle to get by and (or) get away with each day as if in an unending loop within a vacuum of harsh reality.
relocation
2010 charcoal & oil on canvas 88"x192"
A rather experimental approach to traditional medium (charcoal) and retrospective retelling of the artist's adolescent days as a homeless boy who lived from one house to another serving as a "houseboy" or house helper within the slums of Metro Manila. The artist described those days as "extremely dangerous, uncertain, yet familiar and comforting in certain territories. "