Nica Aquino
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      • Asian Voices TV, Ep. 10
      • Art & Cake Contemporary Art Magazine
      • University of Southern California Center for Religion and Civic Culture
      • Oregon Artswatch
      • Occidental News
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        • Issue 11/08/22
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          • Online Exhibition
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          • 2021 >
            • Hair Pulling Between Good & Evil
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              • Exhibition
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          • 2020 >
            • Merkadito Pasko
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            • Kentucky Fried Pop-Up for Maiden LA
          • 2019 >
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          • 2018 >
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          • 2017 >
            • Honoring Our Ancestors
          • 2016 >
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              • Exhibition
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          • 2013 >
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      • Photographic Series >
        • The Mayor's Daughter
        • Memory Full
        • How I Survived Breaking Both My Legs
        • Mana
        • Sixteen Again
        • Keep Portland White
        • Misc. Photography
        • Coming Soon >
          • Nobody Walks in LA
          • A Year in the Coloniser's Land
      • Other Media >
        • Memory Room >
          • Exhibition
          • Artist Talk: Dinner in the Memory Room
        • Video >
          • Instructional Video for the Warrior Goddess
          • #I_ATE_THE_BONES
          • Isolation 2020 - Balamb
          • Danum (Water) #1
          • Supertubos Beach
          • Lucid Dreaming
          • Celebrate Movement
          • Keep Portland White
        • Textiles >
          • Kusikus Textile Series (ongoing)
          • Untitled Wall Hanging
        • Misc. Mixed Media
    • Programming >
      • Curatorial >
        • 2022 >
          • HATAK 2022
          • KAPWA: Communal Spirit
          • FOR GOOD?
        • 2021 >
          • HATAK (2021)
          • I Remember 2020
        • 2020 >
          • Merkadito Pasko
          • Tuloy Po Kayo
          • Untold Parallels
          • Quality Time
        • 2019 >
          • We Are Like Air
          • anotherspace >
            • Exhibition
            • Eye of the Fish: Gunita Collective x Batik Maker
            • Lola's Sari-Sari Store
          • Araw Ng Mga Patay >
            • Exhibition
            • Artist Led Walkthrough
            • PRESS: Occidental Newspaper
            • PRESS: University of Southern California Center for Religion and Civic Culture
        • 2018 >
          • Balay/Bahay >
            • Exhibition
            • Opening Reception Performances >
              • Alay
              • Gong Spirits
              • Native Spirit
              • Dance Cypher
      • Community Engagement >
        • 2020 >
          • Oxy Arts Community Studio Series with Nica Aquino (Occidental College)
          • Family Paint Night w/ FilAm Fam (POSTPONED)
          • Paper Making w/ John DeCastro
        • 2019 >
          • Parol Workshop w/ Christian Acfalle
          • Current LA:FOOD
          • Balikbayan Box w/ Sara Chao >
            • Workshop
            • Press
          • How to Make a Rainbow w/ Jade Phoenix
          • Lumpihahaha
      • Lectures, Artist Talks >
        • 2021 >
          • Healing Centered Art: Many Paths to Wellness | Wed, May 26, 2021 | 630-8PM (PST)
          • DISCOVER 10: 10 API Artists at the Cutting Edge of Art
        • 2020 >
          • Artist Talk w/ Silvia M. De Leon
          • Artist Talk w/ Dearantler
          • Artist Talk w/ Em Hernandez
          • Artist Talk w/ Mike Saijo
        • 2019 >
          • 'Araw Ng Mga Patay' Artist Led Walkthrough
          • Dinner in the 'Memory Room'
          • Artist Panel PSU Dept. of Philosophy
        • 2018 >
          • 24th Adelante Mujer Latina
      • Shady Pines Radio >
        • Past (playlist links here) >
          • 12.16.21: "Angels with Filthy Souls" on Shady Pines Radio
          • 10.28.21 - "Songs to Listen to Before a Cult S*icide"
      • Mata Art Gallery
    • Publications >
      • 2019 Filipino-American Artist Directory
      • 2017 {M}aganda Magazine
    • Performances >
      • 2015 Merrie Monarch Ho'ike
      • 2015 Aratani Theater
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Sixteen Again
35mm Photo series
2014-2015
35mm Photos
2014-2015


At the tender age of 18, I packed my bags and moved out of my family’s home for the first time. Not only was I moving out for the first time, but I also took a gamble and decided to move out of the state entirely, to a city I’d never even been to, where I didn’t know anyone. I lived in Portland, Oregon for five years where I attended college, spent my early 20s and learned how to become an adult on my own.

After college, I decided to move back home to Los Angeles, California. Having spent five years away, I felt like I had to relearn how to be an adult. I had to reevaluate what “home” meant to me. Transitioning back to Los Angeles was not easy. I felt like I was a different person in an entirely different city; I felt displaced and disconnected.

Rummaging through old boxes and photo albums at home one day, I came across my mother’s old 35mm point and shoot Olympus camera from my childhood. Feeling lost in a place I once called my home, I adventured with my mother’s old “family camera.” This old 35mm point and shoot camera is a key element to this series; It acts as an agent of nostalgia, capturing new memories with the lens that recorded my childhood. I’ve recovered past memories by revisiting and documenting places of my adolescence, reconnecting with old friends, as well as relearning the streets and creating new memories in a city I used to call "home."


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