Authenticity and Vulnerability aren't always comfortable, but they're never weaknesses. I share the feelings of confusion, fear, and shame I've placed behind my back. Obsessing with perfection and contemplating an imagined flaw, I suffered a distaste with my body. I've always been an artist fascinated with the concept of life with themes that are purely reflections of myself. My expressive approach captures the emotion that's so personal yet universal using brush strokes to create a figure. The cadmium red, together with parchment, tones of sienna and umber adds flesh and life to the narrative.

Bringing this figurative work today, a time where bodies are still placed under pressure, my vision is empathy. Behind the portrait of a woman is a desire of empathy towards people who experience the same.

Being confined in the uncertainties of trying times, I was able to see beauty in the concept of caring - nourishing the simple things as well as growing with them, consciously creating a space for peace and growth. It is only during these times we notice mundanity and feel hopeful about it. These are the moments we often take for granted. As I take care of things that are important to me, I also grow together with them.

Intentionally composed like a diptych, the two panel-like images corresponds the same visual representation: a routinary morning scene of a seamstress and a student. In the center captures the moment of a mother and her daughter putting on a face mask and envisioning the same dream - maisuot mo / maisuot ko ang toga kap. 

It mirrors today's times which is a depiction that we are caught in the in-between of the pandemic - workers are able to work and students can go back to school, but there is no certainty as to whether the crisis will be ending soon or not. Despite this, the shared vision a mother and a daughter have for each other is enough reason to face the uncertainties of life and continue chasing dreams.