Art, more than anything, is deeply human in its triumph and flaws. While everyone aims for perfection, what makes art compelling is how it showcases the deep, individual traits that affect every artist working today. Many Philippine artists working today have such a profound trove of influences and talent that one cannot help but marvel at every piece they create.
For our year-end roundup of the art scene, we showcase some of the interviews we’ve done for the year that hopefully spotlights the past and the future of this country’s art scene as a whole. These interviews exemplify the aspects of artistry that put our humanity front and center and how our different ideas coalesce together to solidify our cultural identity as a whole.
Regardless of how humanity progresses, the love felt for art will remain solidly, achingly personal.
One of the Philippine artists profiled in our inaugural BluPrint Art publication, Joe Bautista, is an important but seemingly unsung figure in the influential “Shop 6” art scene. His art challenges our traditional ways of viewing art, veering into unspoken political subtexts as it delves into more conceptual ideas that elitist perspectives have pushed aside.
“From the conceptual provocations of Shop 6 to the subversive commentary hidden in Frigidaire, Joe Bautista’s legacy is one of fearless exploration. His journey—from a radical young artist who challenged the establishment, to a quiet hiatus, to his recent return—is a powerful affirmation of a persistent creative spirit,” BluPrint’s Caryll Ong wrote in her profile of the artist.
Read more: Joe Bautista: ‘Kutong Lupa’ and His Audacious Return
One of the more interesting younger artists working in the art scene today, Quiachon creates uniquely textured paintings made through techniques that she largely learned from her days in architecture.
The abstract, faceless figurines that comes from scale figures in architectural sketches, the impasto method that allows for the texture of stone in her work, the monochromatic look that makes it striking to look at from a distance and close-up; all of it derives from her past, and becomes her way of self-expression, of digging into the emotions that bubble up from within.
“I like capturing moments,” she said. “It’s just a moment, like it’s not the entirety of the story. You capture something at that given time and then I tend to focus on it and that’s how I make my concepts. Like you pause the people on the move.”
Read more: Thea Quiachon Makes Material Art of Abstract Emotions
Reyes, as an artist, stands out by recontextualizing gems and precious stones in an art context, allowing enthusiasts to see them as part of nature, a part of our world today.
A lot of his work highlights the natural sensibilities of gems, questioning the standards we impose upon them in society. For example, one of his signature works, “The Giga Pearl,” is allegedly the largest authenticated pearl in existence. He shows it to people in its unadulterated form, as a statement of the relationship our world has with beauty and how that can diverge from our society’s standards.
“It’s all about rethinking how gems are displayed and enjoyed,” Reyes said. “As an artist, it’s important to think outside the box, to challenge what’s been traditionally accepted as beautiful or valuable.”
Read more: Abraham Reyes: The Gem Collector and Artist Crafts Authenticity in Beauty
eatsleepdreamwork, Lee Paje’s most recent exhibition at MO_Space, focused more on the labor of artists rather than the typical topics of its transcendent nature. A collection of her work over the past few decades, the multimedia showcase immerses the viewer in her day-to-day life, exemplifying the work that goes into creating art with others.
She utilizes a bevy of methods toward these goals, from paintings and sculptures to a fragmented video mosaic of different activities happening simultaneously. It’s a dynamic and self-conscious investigation of how one does art, especially as the veil of daily life pierces through the ideals of the artist again and again to no end.
“I noticed that a year is no longer divided into days, weeks, and months,” she said. “It has become more about the projects, the work that needs to be finished, and the deadlines to meet. Everything revolves around making. The passing of time is marked by moments of making, which are then intertwined with the banality of everyday routines. I noticed how the cyclical nature of time and routines coincides with making.”
Read more: Lee Paje Demythisizes the Artistic Process in ‘eatsleepdreamwork’
Not a lot of satirical material about the art world currently exists—typically, most collectors and art enthusiasts are unwilling to invest in such navel-gazing—so Chalk Zaldivar stands out because of how sharp and silly his artwork tends to be about pop culture in general, and the art world as a whole.
His most recent solo exhibition, State of the Art, contains some of the most pointed barbs and jokes about the pretentions of artists and the art world in recent memory. From a white canvas with “Launder Your Money Through Me” spray-painted across it, to a mocking series of trophies that decry how awards are based more on connections than the merit of the art itself, Zaldivar’s incisiveness cuts through the idle chatter of industry people at large to say something honest about our local scene as a whole.
“It seems fun to talk about, you know, but no artist is willing to cross the line,” he added. “So since no one’s talking about it, [I] might as well add it naman din. And at least it creates conversation about the topic, makes people reassess it.”
Read more: Chalk Zaldivar Fashions a Pointed Satire of Today’s Art Scene
The daughter of esteemed local ceramic artists Jon and Tessy Pettyjohn, Hanna’s own path in life took her to different places around the world. She utilizes different mediums, from painting to sculpture and ceramics, as a way of exploring her unique perspective of life in different ways.
Her story as a migrant to the United States is central to much of her artwork, as she seeks to define her place in the world. Typically a painter, Hanna’s recent collaboration with her father Jon has her working with ceramics to reflect on her past and look toward the future of her craft. It’s a collaboration that has encouraged her to seek out new mediums to explore as a way of telling her stories as best as she can in the future.
“I think I like the idea that someone like me as a painter could find this connection,” Hanna added. “And it would be nice if other people could also just not have an attitude of ‘I’m not a ceramicist, so I’m not gonna try it.’ There’s a lot you can do. And that would be nice if people feel like they want to explore also.”
Read more: Jon and Hanna Pettyjohn: Bridging the Multigenerational Spirit of Artistry
Philippine artists have continued to evolve in strange and unpredictable ways, changing with the waves of time and culture as they work to understand the self and the environment we’re all in. As the art scene continues to lurch forward, hope springs eternal that enlightenment will not just come to the artists, but also to our community as a whole; that new layers of the Filipino spirit will be unlocked as we continue to explore.
Photos by Elle Yap, Ed Simon, and Kim Santos.
Related reading: Disability Architecture: Ar. Jaime Silva on the Push for Accessible Spaces
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