 I'm thrilled to share Mata's newest online exhibition, PIECES OF PINDANGAN.
In spring of 2025, I was invited to participate in Alfredo F. Tadiar Library's Balay da Judge artist residency program. During my month-long residency, I photographed various streets & locations throughout the City of San Fernando, La Union, originally known as Pindangan. The work specifically traces back to the former barangays (neighborhoods) my parents lived in together, quietly observing communities they once frequented before immigrating overseas. As part of my residency, my community engagement event included an artist talk at Puón Books, followed by a lesson on photography basics, and a photo walk. The photo walk led participants to historic landmarks near the bookshop, as well as landmarks personal to me, stopping by former streets and homes my parents once lived in together. The online exhibition shares photos submitted by the participants, which were created during the workshop or independently. This work became extra meaningful for us, as a typhoon recently made its way through La Union and the Northern Philippines in the summer of 2025, damaging many of the streets we walked through and the sites photographed in this project. It's moments like these that we, as photographers, know we've done our jobs — documenting and memorializing our continually changing communities. Be sure to check out the online exhibition from your computers for the full experience!
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Over a year later, I am FINALLY concluding work from my ARROZidency artist-in-residence at OM France Viana Studio at the Minnesota Street Project in San Francisco.
As a last reminder, if you are just starting here, I recommend scrolling to the bottom of this series & starting from the beginning! View from a computer for the full experience. A full round-up of my residency work, starting from my research in Cebu in 2024 up until this post, is available under the tag:
To view my main residency project only, which consists of my Cebu research & main photo documentary essay, that work is tagged under:
I am really excited to finally finish this project, because it's taken me over a year to do so! After reviewing all of the work, I hadn't realised how busy I actually was. It was a struggle to finish sooner due to more unexpected, drawn-out health issues last year after I came home from the Philippines. But now that I've finally had time to sit with the work, it felt like the right time to revisit & push myself to finish.
I haven't got much else to say other thank how thankful I am for this experience — a truly educational, healing, spiritual & transcendental experience in so many ways. And I am so, so thankful for all the people who supported me along the way, whether it was making a direct investment into the work itself, helping me secure housing, or even just meeting up to connect, spend time together, talk art & life. Altogether, it made for a deeply insightful experience. These last few photos aren't really related to the work at all — yes & no. They were just a few misc photos I found on my camera roll from misc excursions. I recommend clicking on them to enlarge! At the end of every day, even though I could have stayed late & gone on all night like I used to at my studio during my college days, I always made a point to leave the studio before dark. Every day, I left the studio in the Dogpatch district around sunset for a bike ride along the bay into Union Square. While it wasn't part of the art-making, per se, it was a way for me to clear my mind, unwind from the day & mentally prepare for the next day. The top-left photo was just from one of those days when I happened to stop & take a photo. The right & bottom left photos are from misc walks from Union Square to my sublet in Nob Hill. Every day, I tried to take a different route to see if I saw something cool along the way. Revisiting the neon signage of the "Love These Flowers" was like visually giving flowers to myself for finally finishing this project. And the bottom right photo was something that just quickly caught my eye on a walk home one day. Hendrix's Axis: Bold as Love, a skate deck & misc tagging. Thinking of the last song on the album as I finish this series. Thanks for reading this far. :) Make sure to keep checking this space, follow me on Instagram, subscribe to my YouTube channel, or subscribe to my newsletter for updates on my blog posts, projects, or upcoming programs. Please feel free to share your thoughts or any questions in the comments. Sharing more of the extended research & photography of my month long ARROZidency artist-in-residence. If you are just starting here, I recommend scrolling to the bottom to start at the beginning. View from a computer for the full experience! As another reminder, I've split up the work from my residency into 2 separate tags: For my main residency project only, visit: For the full extended roundup of my research during my residency, visit: It was Sunday, February 2, 2025. The rain was making its way through San Francisco & I had a ticket to the Asian Art Museum's free admission day. The rain was coming down & I remember being on the phone with my partner in the morning, asking him if I should still go, because it was raining & I wanted to be cozy. 😅 He encouraged me to go, because I may never get another chance to experience this again. I got dressed & had a short bike ride over to the museum from my sublet in Nob Hill. I was hoping that even though it was the free admission day, that not many people would be there because it was raining. I was sadly mistaken, haha! It was a bit too crowded for my taste, too noisy, I had a hard time navigating the galleries, some of the galleries were closed for installation, & from what I did get to see, I wasn't really impressed with the exhibitions. However, the main thing I wanted to experience at the museum was the lion dance performance. Having experienced my first lion dance performance just the year prior, I wanted to relive that electrifying feeling again. While the program was sadly so unorganized, the performance itself was so much fun to experience. At this time, having just left LA for this residency as the fires were erupting, I wanted to bring back some good fortune and cast off any lingering bad energy before returning to LA. 🐍 I hope everyone is feeling the energy of rebirth and renewal as we all finish shedding our skin from the year of the wood snake. Now, as we enter the year of the fire horse, I wish everyone a happy Chinese New Year, Tết, and Seollal! Fun fact: I was born in the year of the horse (in the 1900s)! The horse is known for being strong, independent & anti-authoritarian by nature. May we all channel our big fire horse energy this year as we dream of a future where authority & hierarchies no longer exist. ❤️🔥🐎 Shout out LionDanceME for their high-energy performance! Here's some photos of their performance from last year. Photographs were created with my Nikon ZF & a 24-70mm lens. Click any image below to enlarge.
  
  
    
     
 Additional photos & research from the rest of my residency are forthcoming & will be tagged under ARROZidency.
Make sure to keep checking this space, follow me on Instagram, subscribe to my YouTube channel, or subscribe to my newsletter for updates on my blog posts, projects, or upcoming programs. If you've read this far, thank you! Please feel free to share your thoughts or any questions in the comments. Sharing more of the extended research & photography of my month long ARROZidency artist-in-residence. If you are just starting here, I recommend scrolling to the bottom to start at the beginning. View from a computer for the full experience! As another reminder, I've split up the work from my residency into 2 separate tags: For my main residency project only, visit: For the full extended roundup of my research during my residency, visit: My month in San Francisco for my ARROZidency was surrounded by art and creatives. I felt/feel incredibly fortunate & grateful for the experience, because I got to meet so many artists, as well as reconnect with artists & friends I hadn't seen in real life for a number of years. It was amazing to feel like I was immersed in a community of creatives again, & also have access to art everywhere. From my residency studio, its facilities & all the people who work there, to the galleries just across the street, to even the temp sublet I was renting in Nob Hill. Of course, while spending my time getting creative & connecting with other artists, I also got to experience some exhibitions & soak up some inspiration that way. Here's a few shows I got to check out in-person! Photographs were created with my Nikon ZF & a 24-70mm lens. Click any image below to enlarge. Spirit House at Cantor Arts Center at Stanford UniversityMy residency host invited me, another artist at the studio (who was also a former AIR) & his spouse to check out the last few days of Spirit House at the Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University. You can check out a virtual tour of the program on their website. I appreciate that some institutions & arts spaces still offer this accessibility option for the many reasons some cannot make it to art exhibitions in-person. I also did not photograph every single work, just a few of my favorites. So definitely head over to their website to view the full exhibition of works & to learn more! The artwork themselves were phenomenal, the collection was a great choice, & the placement of everything was very thoughtful. I have no notes or edits on the layout, selection, or the artwork at all. I just have a lot to say about exhibitions like these. However, I'm not an art critic, so I'm saving that discourse for real life conversations. If you know me, you already know how I feel about it. ;)
Stephanie H. Shih Offering (Ash Tower), 2023 ceramic and steel
Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya What Remains, 2024 rice boxes, paint, rice, rebar, wood, cast hands, beads, thread, rope, wire, and textile
right: Cathy Lu Banana Tree, 2023 ceramic and joss sticks left: Reagan Louie Window, San Francisco, Chinatown, 2005 archival pigment print edition 2 of 5 I might be biased, because I love photography (obviously) & didn't see a lot of of it in the exhibition, but Louie's photo was probably my favorite piece in the show. Not necessarily because it was a photograph, but the simplicity of a still life photo down to the smaller scale of the piece compared to the (sometimes) overwhelming size of everything else managed to say a lot. Sometimes less is more, & this piece truly embodied that for me. This was a peak into someone's world, something that was relatable for me in just this one small photo. I'm not Chinese, but it's something about the clutter and maximalism of a small space that speaks to the universal experience of growing up in a small immigrant household. 
Nina Molloy Shrine, 2021–2022 oil on canvas
Tuan Andrew Nguyen Nothing Is Ever Lost, Nothing Ever Gained, 2022 brass from artillery shells, mounted on black stainless steel Nothing Ever Dies, 2022 singing bowl pounded from 122 mm brass artillery shell, tuned to note G at 410 Hz 
Tidawhitney Lek Refuge, 2023 acrylic, pastel, and oil on canvas
Dinh Q. Lê Cambodia Reamker #29, 2022 Epson inkjet print on Epson double-weight matte paper, acid-free double-sided tape, and PH-neutral linen book tape
Maia Cruz Palileo Big Lolo, Little Lolo, 2021 wood, milk paint, table
Korakrit Arunanondchai Shore of Security, 2022 repurposed wooden dollhouse made by the artist's mother, wood, house paint polyurethane, fabric sculpture, ceramics snake skeleton, and LED lights
Namita Paul Testimony, 2023 canvas and gifted textiles, thread, gold leaf, gold spray paint, lentils, wheat berries, and photo transfer  I don't think these tapestries were technically part of the exhibition? There seems to be no clickable description about them in the virtual tour — so, unsure!  Friend & residency co-host Malou with her baby girl, Habibi! Oscar yi Hou Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, aka: Bushwick Bleeding Hearts Club, 2022 oil and gouache on canvas Cian Dayrit's LibertIEs Were Taken at Root Division I got to check out Cian Dayrit's solo exhibition Liberties Were Taken at Root Division during SF Art Week, a week-long celebrations of San Francisco's art scene that takes place across multiple galleries and creative spaces. I attended a curator-led walkthrough of the exhibition that was very informative, & the curator was a very professional presenter, making it was clear they did a lot of research and studying for this exhibition. Also got to meet a rad fellow photographer, Hunter, who works at the gallery & took this photo of me in action, haha! Here were some of my fav pieces from the show. While I did enjoy the Spirit House exhibition a lot, I have to say I liked this one more. And not because the artist is Filipino, but I appreciate smaller community art spaces like these more over large institutions. 
 
  Minnesota Street Project's Dark Matter for SF Art Week 2025Last but not least, I got to check out Dark Matter presented by The Space Program at Minnesota Street Project for SF Art Week, one of the main events of the week. I was very lucky to have been located so close to this event, with the studios being just across the street. One of the artists at the studio whom I'd gotten to know over the month also had work part of this program. I also learnt this night, that the owner of Re.riddle (one of the gallery spaces at Minnesota Street Project) was also the curator of the exhibition I got to see at Edge on the Square! It was really amazing in the end how all my experiences connected with each other. Below are a few of my fav pieces from Dark Matter, but here is a full list of works if you'd like you see what else was shown. Some of the work below was not part of the Dark Matter program, but from exhibitions at one of the galleries that were open during the opening night — so make sure to check out that image list for accuracy!  Maria A. Guzmán Capron and Seth Capron Lap Chair powder coated aluminum 19"x55"x55" 2025
Ben Venom Night Flyers, 2024 hand-made quilt with fabric 39” x 51”
Rachelle Reichert Wildfires, 2024 San Francisco Bay salt, redwood ashes from California wildfires, and mixed media on panel 48" x 48.5"  Jud Bergeron Layered #1-4, 2024 ink and copper leaf on paper 33" x 25"  left: Richard Colman Untitled (Aluminum Leaf), 2024 20” x 23” silkscreen, acrylic and aluminum leaf on paper right: Untitled (Gold Leaf), 2024 20” x 23” silkscreen, acrylic and gold leaf on paper
Demetri Broxton Just Beyond the Waters, 2025 sequins, glass and wood beads, rayon tassels, silver, quartz, and cowrie shells on sateen cotton, linen, wool, and birch 21" x 38"
Andy Diaz Hope Future Memory: Juniper, 2023 17" x 26" unframed digital and physical collage, silkscreen, and photography on paper
left: Oliver Hawk Holden Watermelon inflatable in solidarity with Palestine, 2023 Ripstop nylon, HVAC fan, plywood, and sheet metal 8' x 8' x 16' top right: Jay Howell 22” x 24” Untitled, 2024 5 color silkscreen bottom right painting: Yarrow Slaps Castles burn and new grounds rise, 2024 12" x 12" acrylic on canvas bottom right sculptures: Yarrow Slaps Star Lady Plant Head and King Bruh Bruh w the glasses, 2024 ceramic
Charlene Tan Kumot ng Bata, a Homage. 2024 silver leaf, abalone, capiz, cowrie shell, airport reflective glass beads, micro beads, paint, glue, and digital print on aluminum panel 54” x 72”
Gianluca Franzese Arteries of the Earth, 2024 aluminum leaf, silver leaf, copper leaf, 12k white gold leaf, 18k and 22k gold leaf with acrylic glazes on panel 48 x 60.75" 
 
Works from Rena Bransten Gallery's Summoning group exhibition. left: Lava Thomas I Walk in the Light of My Ancestors' Prayers, 2024 altered tambourines, acrylic marker on metallic leather, mirrored acrylic disks, grosgrain ribbon 59.5" x 115.25" x 2" right: Viviana Paredes Everywhere / nowhere, 2018 cast glass, ceramic beads, steel plate sculpture: 6" x 13" x 10" steel plate: 15" x 13" x 0.25" A final post & conclusion of my photos & research from my residency are forthcoming & will be tagged under ARROZidency.
Make sure to keep checking this space, follow me on Instagram, subscribe to my YouTube channel, or subscribe to my newsletter for updates on my blog posts, projects, or upcoming programs. If you've read this far, thank you! Please feel free to share your thoughts or any questions in the comments. Sharing more of the extended research & photography of my month long ARROZidency artist-in-residence. If you are just starting here, I recommend scrolling to the bottom to start at the beginning. View from a computer for the full experience! As another reminder, I've split up the work from my residency into 2 separate tags: For my main residency project only, visit: For the full extended roundup of my research during my residency, visit: A place I really wanted to visit during my time in the Bay was the San Francisco Mission, which I had just learnt was actually split into 2 different structures, including the Mission San Francicso de Asis & then Mission Dolores. For anyone new here, I'm not religious, Catholic or Christian. However, I am interested in the history of the California Missions, because I'm interested in the parallels between the Natives of so-called California & the Natives of the so-called Philippines. Strange, but one of my life goals is to someday visit all 21 California Missions. I've only visited 4. 😅 Anyways, as someone part of the Ilokano/Filipino-Californian diaspora, I'm interested in the parallels between our histories because we share the same colonisers — Spain & the so-called United States of America — with both still having a traumatic chokehold on our cultures. Whenever I visit a church in the Philippines, my first thought is, "This feels like I'm in California." And when I visit a church in California, I find myself thinking the reverse: "I feel like I'm in the Philippines." It's these feelings that lead me to believe that the Californian diasporic experience is particularly unique among Filipinos. [ For some quick comparisons, check out my more recent photos of the church in San Juan, La Union, where my father was baptised in the 1930s & where we had his mass before his internment; the Namacpacan church in Luna, La Union; & the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño de Cebu, where I started my research for this residency. ] The Mission in San Francisco is the oldest structure in the city & it also houses the oldest & only cemetery within the city limits. This was particularly interesting for me, because while I haven't been to many CA Missions yet, this is the only one I've been to (so far?) with a cemetery. I'll share more history on the cemetery below. Starting with some exterior views of the Mission San Francisco de Asis, moving into the interior, to the cemetery, and to the interior of the Mission Dolores Basilica. Photographs were created with my Nikon ZF & a 24-70mm lens. Click any image below to enlarge. Mission San Francisco de Asis Exterior 
Mission San Francisco de Asis Interior
  St. Joseph's Altar (1810). Anonymous. wood, gold leaf, oil paint. Left to right: St. John of Capistrano, Saint Joseph, St. Bonaventure.
 St. Anthony's Altar (1810). Anonymous. wood, gold leaf, oil paint. Left to right: St. Pascual of Baylón, St. Anthony of Padua, St. Francis of Solano.    Reredos, Main Altar (1797). Anonymous. wood, gold leaf, oil paint. According to church signage: The reredos was crafted in Mexico and brought to the mission in 1797. Clockwise from top left: St. Francis of Assisi in ecstasy. St. Joachim, father of Mary. St. Michael the Archangel. St. Clare of Assisi, founder of the order known as the Poor Clares. St. Francis of Assisi with the stigmata. St. Anne, mother of Mary. Crucifix. Mary under the title of the Immaculate Conception. Tabernacle. After a quick search, I learnt that a reredos is a type of altarpiece. According to Britannica: altarpiece, work of art that decorates the space above and behind the altar in a Christian church. Painting, relief, and sculpture in the round have all been used in altarpieces, either alone or in combination. These artworks usually depict holy personages, saints, and biblical subjects. Several technical terms are associated with altarpieces. The predella is a low, decorated strip intended to raise the main part of the altarpiece to a height where it is readily visible from a distance. A diptych is an altarpiece consisting of two painted panels, a triptych has three panels, and a polyptych has four or more panels. A winged altarpiece is one equipped with movable wings that can be opened or closed over a fixed central part, thereby allowing various representations to be exposed to view. The term reredos is used for an ornamental screen or partition that is not directly attached to the altar table but is affixed to the wall behind it. The term retable simply refers to any ornamental panel behind an altar.
Ceiling. MISSION INNER-EXTERIOR + CEMETERY
Pictured right is the Mission museum, which houses a fair amount of Native crafts & artifacts from the Ohlone people. To be honest, I didn't want to take photos of any of it. 😕  Ceramic mosaic mural by San Francisco artist, Guillermo Granizo (1923-1996). According to Granizo, "In the garden of the mission is a mural of the Spanish Ship "San Carlos" that was sent by the Spaniards to the Pueblo San Francisco to sponsor and colonize the area." Mission Dolores CemeteryFor centuries, the Native Raymatush Ohlone inhabited the peninsula. Near the Mission was once the Chutchui village, where Franciscan monks later decided to build the Mission. While the church interiors were interesting to me, I was particularly drawn to the cemetery because it was my first time seeing one at one of the CA Missions. And it wasn't just interesting to me because I love gothic aesthetics! It actually has a disturbing & dark history (no pun intended). Interred at this cemetery are around 5,000 Native Ohlone people. Sources say that they supposedly died due to bad weather & diseases brought from Europe. Somehow, I have a feeling the "bad weather" reason is a crock of shit. We all know by now that genocide of Native people via disease & illnesses is nothing new, especially now as we are witnessing the genocide of the Palestinian people, whom the Israeli government has blocked from receiving life-saving COVID-19 vaccines. There's also no way I counted 5,000 headstones at this cemetery, so they were likely buried together in an unmarked mass grave. Like all the other CA Missions, this one was no different. It was built by the forced labor of CA Natives, who were called "Indios" & violently forced to convert to Catholicism & adopt a Spanish name — just like the Natives of the so-called Philippines.  Statue of St. Francis of Assisi.
What I find particularly resonant is the work of Ohlone descendants to honor their ancestors, who were wrongfully killed by Spanish colonisers on this property and buried here. In 2001, members of their community built this Ohlone tule hut as a lasting memorial to them.
I hope one day this statue of Junipero Serra is toppled, too. 😤
Also at this cemetery is a statue of Kateri Tekakwitha, who apparently was a Native Mohawk woman from New York who converted to Catholicism & later became a saint. Beneath her statue reads "In prayerful memory of our faithful Indians." Some believe she was placed in the cemetery to ease animosity between the Natives & the Mission, & to serve as a marker for those unnamed.
Unfortunately, I couldn't find who this statue is of. 😅 If you happen to know, please feel free to drop a comment! I did love the juxtaposition of the statue with the green & the orange cone, so I decided to keep these in color.  Mission Dolores BasilicaWhile the Mission San Francisco de Asis was founded in 1776 (technically JUST before the United States was established as a country!), the Mission Dolores Basilica was built 100 years after in 1876. I don't know what more to say about this basilica, other than the fact that it reminds me of churches in the Philippines. 😅 This was the last space I visited at the Mission site. I didn't get any photos of the ceiling mural, but make sure to look up if you visit. While the small Mission church certainly had its own charm, the basically was epic in comparison.
 
 
Additional photos & research from the rest of my residency are forthcoming & will be tagged under ARROZidency.
Make sure to keep checking this space, follow me on Instagram, subscribe to my YouTube channel, or subscribe to my newsletter for updates on my blog posts, projects, or upcoming programs. If you've read this far, thank you! Please feel free to share your thoughts or any questions in the comments. |
NICA AQUINOIn this space I'll share digital previews of my film photography, updates on new artworks in progress, upcoming programs, inspiration & my other misc interests. Archives
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