Studio site launched.

We’re officially launched. Speaking for the artists in the studio collective, it’s with great pride to launch the online gallery and journal site chronicling our artistic journeys in painting, sculpture and other media.

The studio name adopted, ‘Balay Malay’, is from Visayan or Cebuano, one of the Philippine dialects, that roughly translates to “house [of] consciousness”. Originally a play of words of my hometown’s name, Malaybalay in the province of Bukidnon. It is where I obviously first formed my earliest consciousness not just of the world but of art and culture in general. Although from the literal boondocks – Bukidnon, meaning the highlands or the mountain people – the roots have remained untethered. The affinity to land, nature, peoples, traditions, etc. find a way in artistic expression.

The portrait displayed here is of an indigenous Bukidnon woman, from the Kaamulan festival during my early years practicing art. This and the two other portraits were based on photographs I had taken which unfortunately I have lost – even the film camera, it seems has been lost – and done as pastel drawing on MDF board. Limited gicleé prints of these portraits are available on the gallery page soon.

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Thank you.