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Artronika & AAPI Heritage Month

5/14/2025

Happy AAPI Heritage Month! I am finally back in the states after spending a total of 4.5 months traveling. I think it's safe to say I will be here again for a while, as I finish some outstanding projects & look for new work.

Throwing it back to last year, I had a wonderful opportunity to work with Artronika & the South Asian creative community doing photography for their Chakras events at the Siesta Day Club near Chinatown, Los Angeles. The events included a 7-course food experience by Bombay Beach restaurant — each course corresponding with one of the 7 chakras & their colors — as well as cultural music, dance & visual art by a number of artists from various parts of the South Asian diaspora & adjacent. It was a pleasure to work with the South Asian community, whom I feel is often forgotten from the AAPI experience. Definitely make sure to follow Artronika on Instagram & catch their next event around LA County!

Artronika is a non-profit arts organization that produces immersive arts programming showcasing South Asian talent collaborating with visual artists in non-traditional performance spaces. Executive Director, Ireesh Lal, is a trumpet player and Recording Artist that has been producing events throughout Southern California for several decades.

Last year I'd just gotten my Nikon ZF, & I also took out some new fractal filters for a spin for the first time. Here's a selection of photos below made using a 24-70mm lens.

Click any image to enlarge. View from a computer for the full experience.

May 2025

This was my first Chakras event. I didn't know what to expect, other than what I'd seen in YouTube videos from prior research. I remember it being very hot that day & I was boiling alongside the artists (haha), whom were all very welcoming & seemed to be having a great time regardless. The food & music were phenomenal. It was also my first time seeing a contortionist in-person. Paired with the food & music, my mind was a bit blown. 😅

Ireesh Lal DJ'd a mix of electronic and world music while playing jazz trumpet and synths. Neel Agrawal joined on tabla and Indian percussion. Norton Wisdom painted live on a fiberglass canvas. Choreography and dance by Lena Fumi. Body painting by Sig Aberin and Rio Sirah. Amita Batra hosted the afternoon and additional vocal performances by Arzeen Kamal & Ashwin Sriram. Several additional guest musicians were also featured throughout the event.

August 2025

This day was a lot cooler (in temps)! No fractal filter this time, but I came strapped with a flash unit after seeing how varied the lighting was at the last event. Plus, with the event starting later in the day this time around (after how hot the last one was!) & the sun going down, it really came in handy with the later performances. Saw some familiar faces from the last event as well as met some new artists. Also got to hang with some friends who came out, too! No food pics this time, but just understand that the food was of course remarkable once again.

Ireesh Lal DJ'd a mix of electronic and world music while playing jazz trumpet and synths. Neel Agrawal joined on tabla and Indian percussion. Norton Wisdom painted live on a fiberglass canvas. Choreography and dance by Lena Fumi. Body painting by Rio Sirah. Comedian Dhruv Singh hosted the afternoon. Local underground South Asian songwriters performed a mix of original and covers throughout the event, including Vaishali Sanas, Flyght Club & Arzeen Kamal.

Make sure to keep checking this space, follow me on Instagram or subscribe to my YouTube channel for updates on my blog posts. If you are interested in hiring me for event photography, shoot me an email.

If you've read this far, thank you! Please feel free to share your thoughts or any questions in the comments.

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Walks in San Fernando, La Union (Part 6, photo workshop)

5/2/2025

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Tomorrow, 3 May, is the last day of my Balay da Judge artist residency with the Alfredo F. Tadiar Library in San Fernando, La Union. 🥲 This will be my last update on this project for a while. I am returning to the US next week, where I will prioritise processing the 35mm film I used to create the main part of this project. The digital photos published in this blog series are meant to serve as previews of the work-in-progress, not final works, but I hope you all enjoyed what you saw. I am hoping to get all film scanned & edited before the end of this year. It will be a priority!

These were a few photos I was able to create during the photo walk portion of my photo workshop, using the prompts from our photo scavenger hunt list. These were the very last photos I made with my Nikon ZF (and Pocket Dispo lens) on this trip.

View from a computer for the full experience. Click any image to enlarge.

Below is an event recap photo gallery provided by the library as well.

I am also very excited to soon share the workshop participants' photos they created during our photo walk! The submissions are rolling in & already they're all SO incredible! As an art educator, the proudest moment you can experience is seeing your students put your lessons to practice & witness them create. So please stay tuned for updates on that as well! The library & I will be collaborating to publish an online exhibition of the complete collection of photography, & hopefully a printed zine (still TBD).

Make sure to keep checking this space, follow me on Instagram or subscribe to my YouTube channel for updates on my posts. All updates on my residency will be tagged under Balay da Judge.

If you've read this far, thank you! Please feel free to share your thoughts or any questions in the comments.

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Walks in San Fernando (Part 5, Ilocanos Norte)

5/2/2025

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Hey all, this is the last week of my Balay da Judge artist residency, as it ends on May 3... This will be one of my last few updates on the work-in-progress I've created for this project, so I hope you enjoy.

While this is more of another side quest & not really related to the residency project, my mom & I paid a visit to Ma-Cho Temple in San Fernando. Ma-Cho Temple is located in the barangay of Ilocanos Norte, where my mom & dad had their first house together. My mom said the temple has been there for many years & it's a place she'd always wanted to go, but never did. She said back in the day supposedly it was never open to the public. Before I leave San Fernando, I wanted to visit this place together with her since she said she'd always wanted to see what it was like. After visiting, my mom also got to show me a bit of Ilocanos Norte.

All photos below are from my Nikon ZF using a Pocket Dispo lens.

View from a computer for the full experience. Click any image to enlarge.

Loved that all the parked cars happened to be red.

Ma-Cho temple was built in San Fernando, La Union in 1978 by Filipino-Chinese devotees. It is the first Taoist temple in the Philippines. Sat on top of a hill & overlooking the China Sea, this temple is located within the middle of the hustle & bustle of San Fernando city life. The temple is filled with gardens, pagodas, sculptures & an interior temple with the most intricate carved ceiling art I've ever seen. While I'm not a follower myself, my interest in culture extends to religion & spirituality, & I love visiting places like these. Last autumn, I recently came back from visiting an epic Taoist temple for the sea goddess Mazu in Taiwan. Naturally, stopping by this type of location would interest me. (I'll eventually share photos from that trip, but it's not a priority at the moment.)

After spending some time at the temple, we went around Ilocanos Norte to find the first house her & my dad lived in together as a couple.

Here, you can see the entrance to the small street leading up to my parents' old house. Since it's not an actual street, there is no street name, but it is off of Ortega Street.

We walked down the small corridor & came across someone staying near the house. The lady told my mom that the original owner (who owned the house when my mom & dad were renting from them) sold the house some time ago & the former owner's nephew is currently the caretaker for the house. My mom explained that she used to live there many years ago with my late dad. She told me she had not been back to that house since the 1970s, & that back in the day it was still dirt roads around there with not as many other houses around.

After we visited her & my dad's first house off of Ortega Street, we went to visit one more house of theirs', which is actually also located just within Tanqui, behind the church at the town plaza in San Fernando.

Located behind this house on Zamora Street, just up the alley on the right (which also has no name) is the last house my mom lived in before immigrating to the United States. She said it is also the house she was living in when she brought my brother home from the hospital. He was born in 1975 & she immigrated to the States in 1980. She lived in this house for about 5 years.

During the photo walk portion of my photography workshop this past weekend, we walked up this street to get to the capital grounds on top of the hill, where students would practice their photography skills & create photos using the prompts in their scavenger hunt list. I made sure to make a little pit stop by this house (just on the road, we didn't go through the alley), where I shared a bit of my family history & why this project is so personal to me.

I also forgot to update you all on which house my mom & dad formerly lived in on Zandueta Street, the street that crosses the library. Here is a photo again (which I already featured in part 2), as well as its placement on the map. You can see that Puón Books/Alfredo F. Tadiar Library is just at the end of the street.

I hate all the political tarps. LOL

On a final [side] note — I'd also like to point out that some of you may have noticed I added something new to this post, which are the interactive maps. Since a lot of my work really is a visual diary of place, I wanted to further help viewers visualise these locations by sharing maps of where they're actually at & what is surrounding them. This inclusion was inspired by the comic series Windmills: Bearings by Filipino komik artist, Josel Nicolas. I recently got to purchase this graphic novel at Puón & read it during breaks from my residency work. An autobiographical graphic novel, I was inspired by Josel's juxtapositions of his unique illustration style with photography & maps, to further give readers an understanding of place. Not only was this an art style I have not yet encountered in comics (although I can't say it's like I've read millions of them), his writing style was poetic, & his narratives on personal traumas & mortality were deeply heavy, yet oddly relatable. I also really appreciated his humor & very generational-specific references ranging from WWF (F, not E, because us millenials grew up during the WWF era still!), to music references like Oasis (my fav!) & Slade, to random illustrations of Gael Garcia Bernal for no real reason (maybe other than the fact that we grew up watching so many of his films in the early 2000s). Anyways, please consider this my modest book review & get your hands on this inspirational graphic novel if you don't already own it! But bear in mind (hehe), it does contain some very heavy topics.

I have one more post before I time out of my residency tomorrow, 3 May! Make sure to keep checking this space, follow me on Instagram or subscribe to my YouTube channel for updates on my posts. All updates on my residency will be tagged under Balay da Judge.

If you've read this far, thank you! Please feel free to share your thoughts or any questions in the comments.

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Walks in San Fernando, La Union (Part 4, Pindangan Ruins)

4/18/2025

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This visit was a bit of a side quest, since I can't really say for certain my parents spent any time at this destination. Earlier this week, my studio assistant & I went on a little excursion to Pindangan Ruins. This is somewhere I'd always seen nearby in my Google Maps, but kept forgetting about it. My studio assistant & I recently went to a pasalubong (souvenir) shop at the San Fernando town plaza that gives out free travel guide booklets. I was reminded again of this destination when I was reading through this helpful travel guide!

According to La Union Tayo!, Pindangan was the original name of the City of San Fernando. Pindangan is derived from the Ilokano word pindang, a method of sun-drying & salt preserving meat, referring to San Fernando as a destination heavy in this type of delicacy. Due to its close proximity to the sea, the original church was at constant risk of attacks from foreign invaders (ironic, since I would consider the Spanish foreign invaders themselves). Originally built by Spanish priests in 1764, the church was eventually moved to the town plaza after a couple of other previous relocations, & it is now known as the Cathedral Parish of Saint William the Hermit. However, the ruin site has a Carmelite monastery, which does have its own small church.

While this visit isn't directly related to my family's history, it's still part of my study on contemporary San Fernando & integral to its timeline. Being an Ilokana in the Californian diaspora, I'm particularly interested in the parallels between Filipinos & California Natives. We share the same colonisers — both Spain & the so-called United States — & remnants of the Spanish colonial era still exist in both places.

As some of you already know, I did a recent photo documentary series on the celebration of the Santo Niño in contemporary Philippines & the diaspora for my project Venerating an Icon, as part of my recent residency at the Minnesota Street Projects in San Francisco. This project is still in-progress, but I'm aiming to tie up loose ends before the end of this year! The project examined a centuries old Spanish icon that is still glorified throughout the islands & diaspora, & I was especially interested in its context within California, another former colony of Spain when it was part of what was known as New Spain.

Without further adue, here are some photos from our outing to the Pindangan Ruins. All photos below are from my Nikon ZF using a Pocket Dispo lens.

View from a computer for the full experience. Click any image to enlarge.

My studio assistant getting some practice with composition. :')

My fav easter egg I got to encounter during this visit was finding the kusikus pattern on the door frame of this small chapel (I'm assuming that's what the structure was). The kusikus is very Ilokano-specific & refers to whirlwind patterns found on abel ules, or woven inabel blankets. The kusikus comes in many variations, but this is probably the most popular version of it. Woven on blankets slept with at night, the pattern is intended to confuse & scare off bad spirits.

Make sure to enlarge the images to check out that kusikus doorframe! Unfortunately, that was as close as I could get, as the property was fenced off & not accessible.

Some misc bougainvillea compositions. I love the dual juxtapositions of organic & colorful with grey distressed manmade structure. I also recently found out that bougainvillea is the official provincial flower of La Union. I learnt this through the travel guide booklet I picked up at the pasalubong shop, haha.

Being that it is Semana Santa here in the Philippines, you will usually find images of Jesus & crucifixes covered in purple veils. Starting during the Passiontide, or the last two weeks of Lent, they cover Jesus to observe the last days of his life up until his resurrection on Easter, when he is then unveiled. In the Philippines, his unveiling is considered a way of celebrating his resurrection & Easter. The veil is purple to represent royalty, reminding believers that "Christ is King".

Just a friendly reminder that I don't believe in any of this shit, LOL. I just find it interesting, so don't come at me!

More blog posts on the work I've been producing during my residency will be published in the coming weeks! Make sure to keep checking this space, follow me on Instagram or subscribe to my YouTube channel for updates on my posts. All updates on my residency will be tagged under Balay da Judge.

If you've read this far, thank you! Please feel free to share your thoughts or any questions in the comments.

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Walks in San Fernando, La Union (Part 3, Lingsat)

4/18/2025

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Earlier this week I went for a short sunset walk in the barangay of Lingsat in San Fernando, La Union. Like I'd previously mentioned, since it's been so hot, I've been trying to plan my photo outings around other errands I have to run, so that I can do photography closer to sunset, when it's less hot & the lighting is immaculate.

It's not technically an errand, more of a luxury, but there's a nail salon I started going to in Lingsat to get my nails done. I've been working on this project so much, I also need breaks & moments to treat myself! We all do. So I headed over to get my nails done first, then walked to a specific street to do some photography.

Part of my mom's family history took place in Lingsat, specifically Hufano St. This is the street my older brother grew up on with our cousins early in his childhood, when our mother first immigrated to the US. He would then immigrate 5 years after her.

My tita Rebing & manong Ronald both passed away nearly 2 years ago, one after the other... I didn't grow up here, but I also spent a lot of time here, both in childhood & as an adult. I decided to revisit so I could document what's left of this place to me.

All photos below are from my Nikon ZF using a Pocket Dispo lens.

View from a computer for the full experience. Click any image to enlarge.

Walking down Hufano St felt warm & familiar, until I arrived at my tita's house & it was nearly unrecognisable. I only recognised the property because I remembered it was a corner lot & I remembered what the gate looked like. I was sad to see the small dwellings behind the main house were gone — the lot is now empty. And I know it doesn't make sense to keep since she passed away, but I was also so disappointed to see her sari-sari store gone. I spent so many slow morning's at this store, having breakfast, & hanging out with my nieces & nephews.

To end my exploration, I decided to walk to the beach to observe the sunset. Upon arrival, I felt a wave of sadness suddenly overwhelm me. I remembered days walking the dogs to the beach (the dogs I took care of & loved so very much) with my nieces & nephews, as well as spending parts of my childhood at this beach. I never got to properly say goodbye to my aunt or cousin, & this felt like it was it.

My aunties treated us like their own children. They were like second mothers to us. And my cousins Ronald & his brother were easily my fav cousins. I know we shouldn't say things like that, but they treated me like a little sister. Protective, but respectful & non-judgmental (unlike some other cousins of mine).

Being the loner I've always been, family gatherings & funerals aren't really my thing. This was exactly the solitary & cathartic goodbye I needed for myself. My only regret was not bringing an offering to the ocean.

More blog posts on the work I've been producing during my residency will be published in the coming weeks! Make sure to keep checking this space, follow me on Instagram, or subscribe to my YouTube channel for updates on my posts. All updates on my residency will be tagged under Balay da Judge.

If you've read this far, thank you! Please feel free to share your thoughts or any questions in the comments.

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Artist Talk & Photo Walk with Nica Aquino

4/17/2025

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Alfredo F. Tadiar Library

ARTIST TALK & PHOTO WALK WITH NICA AQUINO

Sunday, April 27, 2025
2-6PM

Alfredo F. Tadiar Library/Puón Books
1F Ortega Highway
Tanqui, San Fernando, La Union
Philippines

FREE, all ages, all levels, all camera styles welcome

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Walks in San Fernando, La Union (Part 2)

4/13/2025

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Here's some photos from my explorations around San Fernando on foot. These photos took place in the barangays of Catbangen & Tanqui. Not only are these barangays where the Balay da Judge artist residency & Alfredo F. Tadiar library are, they are also former barangays my parents used to live in & spend time in together.

Since it's been so hot, I've been trying to plan my outings & errands later in the day, so I can go for a walk & explore after. Here's some interesting compositions & textures I saw during my walks, both early morning & late afternoon. I found that already by 9AM here, the lighting can be quite harsh. For temperature & lighting's sake, 4-6PM has been the sweet spot.

All photos below are from my Nikon ZF using a Pocket Dispo lens.

View from a computer for the full experience. Click any image to enlarge.

Around the Plaza & Tanqui

My parents once lived on Zandueta St. This street crosses the library.

Harsh lighting, but interesting shadows!

My mom said her & my dad once lived in a green house on Zandueta St, near the library. But we only saw one all-green house that looked way too massive for just a couple?! We saw some houses with green breeze block exteriors, but only one house that was actually all-green. Will confirm what exact house in the coming days, but either way, I love breeze blocks & I hate the mint green color, but I'm reminded of Tropikaye's study on #TKColorCooling. Check out the community index on their Instagram or Facebook pages. Despite my dislike for the color itself, this Philippine-specific visual phenomena still fascinates me.

La Union Provincial Capital

Fun fact: Did you know San Fernando is the capital city of La Union?

I haven't been up to the capital grounds since 2018, when my older cousin first took me up here. Every time I come back home & he & his kids are not here, it's not the same. But I'll always be reminded of him fondly whenever I visit the kapitolyo or explore around San Fernando.

Upon arrival, my studio assistant & I were pleasantly surprised to see that there was a lovely installation of artificial tulips for the spring season! I bet this looks stunning in the evening time. This is a location we will be visiting for my upcoming photo walk workshop, & we will be heading over around the golden hour. Hopefully it will be lit up so we can experience some magic together!

They also still had Christmas decorations up, but it was still cute. 😅

Later Day Explorations

Not sure the exact cause, but last week I experienced one of the worst migraines I've ever had. I was laying in my darkened room with the blinds shut. Any light & sound was making my head pound, & it hurt to look at anything. I tried taking an hour nap & woke up feeling worse! Took a cold shower that didn't help either. I took some meds & knocked out for another 5 hours, & that ended up doing the trick. It could have been caused by a combo of lack of sleep (which is not uncommon for me, sadly), heat exhaustion & maybe even dehydration. After a busy week & that migraine spell, Friday came along & I felt entitled to treating myself to a spa day, hehe.

I took a tricycle to the spa, then took one back & got off at the town plaza so I could head back to the residence in Catbangen on foot. During my walk around Catbangen, I decided to take some side streets to find a local mini mart. It was closed, but I randomly happened to come across my mom's former high school. I often enjoy taking side streets because they're quieter & sometimes you just find things you wouldn't expect to see, whether they're locations or just cool compositions.

Saw this sick tricycle sidecar with flames painted on it. Along with the epic sunset lighting, it's giving Philippine Flavortown aesthetic. 🔥

I love the juxtaposition of nature with rusty textures & colors. When you think of it, rust is just a chemical reaction that happens naturally when steel or iron corrode from the meeting of oxygen & water.

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Walks in San Fernando, La Union (Part 1, Semana Santa)

4/13/2025

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Semana Santa (Holy Week) in the Philippines is a religious season I've always wanted to experience. It is every goth girl's dream, hahaha (just kidding). All jokes aside, it's considered a big deal in the Philippines due to the country's large Catholic demographic.

Not only is it very significant here, Semana Santa in the Philippines is particularly known for the senakulo, a gory reenactment of the passion play & death of Jesus. Senakulo comes from the Spanish word cenáculo, which is Spanish for the Cenacle — the Upper Room in Jerusalem where Jesus held the Last Supper. I'm not sure if our province reenacts such a gruesome senakulo performance, but I am both looking forward to finding out & also kind of scared. 😅 I've only ever seen fake gore on TV, not real gore in real life.

Kicking off Semana Santa, I went to the local church at the town plaza in San Fernando, less than a 15 minute walk from my studio at the Balay da Judge, to attend an Ilokano mass for Palm Sunday. I knew the streets would be filled with palaspas, or woven palms. Signifying the start of Semana Santa, Filipinos carry their palaspas in hand to observe Jesus' entry into Jerusalem, where he was greeted with folks waving palms at him.

While palaspas has its religious connotations, let's also acknowledge the art of palm weaving as a pre-colonial Indigenous practice. Aside from religious purposes, palm weaving is also used to make vessels to cook rice, baskets, fiesta goods & more. This moment feels full circle for me, since before I came back to the Philippines, I produced a palm weaving workshop for Mata Art Gallery in partnership with Artronika, led by teaching artist Diyan Bukobomba. Check out a recap here!

All photos below were created with my Nikon ZF using a Pocket Dispo lens.

View from a computer for the full experience. Click any image to enlarge.

More blog posts on the work I've been producing during my residency will be coming up this week! Make sure to keep checking this space, or follow me on Instagram for updates. All updates on my residency will be tagged under Balay da Judge.

If you've read this far, thank you! Please feel free to share your thoughts or any questions in the comments.

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Balay da Judge Artist-in-Residence

4/10/2025

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I'm so excited to finally share that I am Alfredo F. Tadiar Library's second Balay da Judge artist-in-residence! While I've spent my first month in the Philippines exploring new places & reconnecting with friends & family, I'm spending my second month on this trip living & working at the Balay da Judge as part of my residency with the library. This residency is notably special to me, because it takes place in La Union, my family's home-province, where we have lived & thrived for generations.

For this residency, I am continuing my ongoing photo documentary project, Somnia Memorias (2018-present), which now consists of 3 different parts (part 3 is still currently in-progres), with the 4th part underway as part of my residency.

The 4th part of the series focuses on San Fernando, the capital city of La Union. While my family is originally from San Juan, the neighboring municipality, much of my family has spent time in San Fernando, including my parents. San Fernando is particularly significant to me, because it is the place my parents first lived together as a couple & fell in love. Coincidentally, one of the houses my parents lived in together is on the street that crosses the library.

For this project, my goal is to visit & document the barangays my parents used to live & spend time in together in San Fernando. Some of these barangays include Tanqui (where the library & bookshop is located), Catbangen (where the balay is), Ilocanos Norte & Lingsat.

This project also attempts to trace back & log part of my family's history. One thing I wish I did more of before my father passed away was ask him more about himself, his family, who they were, where they're from, etc. It took me years to process this & name what it actually was: regret. When my dad passed, another father-less friend reminded me that all I have left is my mother, & to make the effort to talk & ask questions before it's too late.

The start of this project has been interviewing my mother, asking about each immediate family member she knew of. Parents, siblings, half-siblings, etc. She only knew one grandparent, but barely knew him. I'm particularly drawn to finding out who he was.

Aside from asking her about her immediate family, she's really the last connection I have left to my dad, or at least the last person who knew him the best. Of course I have my siblings, but none of us knew our dad the same way my mom did. By visiting the local places they once spent time in together, I'm hoping to also preserve a piece of contemporary La Union, with a special concentration on San Fernando.

In addition to the photo documentary work, I'm also hosting a 2-day photo workshop, where I'll be teaching the basics of photography on day 1, & leading a photo scavenger hunt around the city on day 2! We will announce dates & times soon.

Keep an eye out in this space for some digital previews of the work I'll be creating, before I officially process the film in a few months! Thank you to all of you who helped me get here, & thank you to the Artist Resistance Through Solidarity (ARTS) Foundation for partially funding my residency project as well!

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Mindanao Part 2 of 2: Bukidnon & Kaamulan

4/10/2025

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Kaamulan Fest

Aside from reconnecting with friends & exploring the island, Kaamulan is the main reason why I wanted to come to Mindanao this time! I was really hoping to experience the grand entry & hopefully see some performances or Native games, but we weren't able to this time. Hopefully next time if I'm ever able to visit again! Nonetheless, it was great to connect, experience the art, view how different their art styles are, but also draw connections as well. While the cultures of the Northern & Southern Philippines can greatly vary, I hope people can also realise the similarities we share with our relatives in the south.

The Kaamulan Festival is a large month-long cultural gathering of the ethnic tribes of the Bukidnon province in Mindanao. Held in the provincial capital of Malaybalay, it is a special time for the seven tribes to unite. I was told the festival has been going on for a little over 50 years, but some believe it may have been celebrated even farther back.

Although I didn't get to experience any music or performances this time, I got to leave the festival dripping in brass jewellery — something I was hoping to leave with. Throughout the Northern & Southern Philippines, brass is used to make musical instruments & accessories. Brass instruments are played for an array of uses such as communication, ceremony, or celebration. As accessories, brass is worn to ward off bad energies & spirits.

All photos below are from my Nikon ZF using a Pocket Dispo lens. The women portrayed below consented to me photographing them.

View photos from a computer for the full experience. Click any image below to enlarge.

Abbey of Transfiguration

We had the unique opportunity to stay at an accommodation in Malaybalay that was near the Abbey of Transfiguration. Nestled among acres of banana & cacao trees, the abbey is a Catholic monastery that has a pyramid-shaped church, as well as a coffee plantation that is farmed, harvested, & roasted by the monks that live in the monastery. Make sure to grab a bag of their Monk's Blend coffee beans at their gift shop! If you are interested in going inside the church, please note that they do have a dress code, just like the Vatican in Rome & now the Basilica de Santo Niño in Cebu.

And that concludes my 9-day trip to Mindanao. 9 days was not enough, but I'm so happy & grateful I got to experience it at least once. I hope this is not the last time I will be in Mindanao. I just know there's still so much to see & experience here. And while I know these don't seem like a lot of photos, I was honestly just trying to be there & be immersed in it all.

Eternally grateful to my friend's Nikki & RM for taking the time to show me around Mindanao, & also dealing with some of the unnecessary qualms I came with. 😅 Thank you for everything! Please check out their newest project that is currently underway, Balay Kasamtangan. If you have the means to, please redistribute your wealth & support their one of a kind project!

If you've read this far, thank you! Please feel free to share your thoughts or any questions in the comments.

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Mindanao Part 1 of 2: Bai Ming's World & Iligan

4/9/2025

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First, & hopefully not last, trip to the island of Mindanao in the Philippines! Despite several generalisations about Mindanao, I've never been influenced by these misconceptions, & it has always been a place I've wanted to visit. I've always been enamored by their gorgeous art aesthetics, music, culture, & admire them for their colonial resistance. So glad I finally got to visit, esp with the guidance of brilliant creatives & friends, but I hope I'm able to make it back again to further explore the island & culture!

Iligan City in the northern Mindanaon province of Lanao Del Norte was the first stop on our 9-day visit. The main languages spoken here are Bisaya, Tagalog, & English is also commonly spoken throughout the islands.

Lanao del Norte & the region surrounding Lake Lanao is the ancestral land of the Maranao, a predominantly Muslim ethnic group in Mindanao. They are one of the largest Islamic groups in the so-called Philippines.

Below are photos of Bai Ming, a Maranao matriarch, who invited me to peek into her world. Her & her family import or create all the goods sold in her shop, Ming's Collection. She consented to me photographing her, & in return I'd love to share about her business! You can find them here on Facebook (if you've got an account), or look them up on Google Maps.

All photos below are from my Nikon ZF. Also first time using my Pocket Dispo lens, gifted to me by my friend & photography collague, Noah B! The lens is great & love the softer texture it creates, but it's def not for everything. It was fun to take it out on a spin for the first time on this trip tho, & hopefully I can find some good use out of it again in the future.

My film photos from this trip will probably come later this year!

View photos from a computer for the full experience. Click any image below to enlarge.

MISC ILIGAN...

Here's some more photos exploring Iligan City! Starting with the amazing view from Fat Pauly's. The photo of the lighthouse almost looks like a postcard images & the swirl of the clouds during sunset were unbelievable.

Paseo de Santiago

If you're into Spanish historic destinations, check out Paseo de Santiago. This park is a paid tourist attraction along the ocean, & is named after Spanish "explorer", Santiago de la Cruz, who is credited for "discovering" the Iligan Bay in the 16th Century. While this is considered a historic destination, I've read that the park itself is a newer tourist attraction. Aside from the park & lush scenery, they also have food vendors, occasionally host events & offer rentals. This park has paid admission & honors senior discounts.

"LAPU LAPU — He is the first famous person written in our history that bravely and gallantly defended our land and our race against foreign invaders on April 2, 1521 known as the "Battle of Mactan" that resulted to the death of Ferdinand Magellan and the defeat of his Spanish and Portuguese forces."

Tambo Public Market

My mother came with me on this trip to Mindanao this time. I can't stress enough how I'm at the point now where I'm starting to feel like the parent, haha! Anyways, before our trip, she said she hadn't been to Mindanao since the 1970's. And she mentioned one thing she really wanted to bring back to La Union was dried fish, claiming that is a really nice cuisine they have there. My friend was kind enough to bring us to Tambo Public Market, where she was able to buy dried pusit (squid), & other fish. These are typically fried & served with garlic rice, eggs & some sort of veggie side dish for breakfast. 🦑

I'm sure some of you can tell that these interior photos in the market are dark inside. I had to use quite a high ISO. Once bringing them into Lightroom, they were very noisy. I do not recommend Lightroom's AI noise removal tool, as it makes the photos look way too fake. Instead, use the option to manually reduce the noise. They won't be perfect & noise-free, but the tool does help, in moderation.

Beadwork Workshop at Espasyo Creative HUb

Got to peel off for a day to take an introductory beadwork workshop at Espasyo Creative Hub. Not only do they occasionally host creative workshops, they also have a restaurant & a storefront where they sell local handmade goods, crafts, art & even some sweet treats hehe.

As you can see, the Pocket Dispo lens is not great for close-ups. So that's something to keep in mind when using this lens. It is a lot like a disposable camera in this way! For those of us who are old enough to remember using disposable cameras in our youth... haha!

Jeepneys of Iligan

Some of you know I'm a public transportation nerd & love riding/exploring on foot/public transit anywhere I go. It was nice to get a break from riding Grab (the Philippines' rideshare service in major cities) & driving, & actually getting to ride around in one of their jeeps!

I've only visited 3 Philippine islands so far & have noticed a difference in their jeeps & public transit. The last island I visited last year was Cebu, & I noticed their jeeps were mostly the Japanese models, & tricycles were also bawal (forbidden). In addition to the jeeps in La Union (on the island of Luzon), you see tricycles everywhere & it's actually my favorite way to get around (when not driving — we also don't have Grab in La Union). And in Luzon, our jeeps are mostly Mercedes or BMW (what I like to call the n*zi models, LOL). However, in Mindanao, I noticed their jeepneys were a mix of n*zi models & also the Japanese models (I mostly saw Isuzu & Mitsubishi, & probably others). Here's a few jeeps in motion while getting to ride in one! They also didn't have tricycles, but they had Bajaj 3-wheelers which are typically ridden for shorter distances. Didn't get any photos of any, but you can look them up here, if you're curious.

Butterflies

These photos are all out of sequence, but I wanted to share this image last. After exploring Iligan with friends for the day, they brought me to a malongan, a shop that sells malongs. For a long time, I've been drawn to butterflies, & I immediately spotted a malong with a butterfly pattern. My friend & I both agreed we'd never seen a malong with butterflies on it. Of course I had to get it. After some shopping, we stepped out to end up at the Tubod River (I think this is the one).

Upon stepping out to the river, we noticed a black butterfly landed on my arm & flew away. When my dad passed away years ago, I remember a black butterfly staying on the ceiling above his casket for days during the week-long wake. Not sure exactly who was communicating with me this time, but could feel this was a messenger from the spirit world making sure we were protected on this trip.

Part 2 of my Mindanao trip is forthcoming, followed by a special announcement on why I'm in the Philippines again for TWO months!

If you've read this far, thank you! Please feel free to share your thoughts or any questions in the comments.

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CollaboratiON with Vanessa Briones

2/21/2025

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Another piece where the scan does the colors no justice!

This untitled multimedia piece, consisting of goache on a digital photo print, is a collaboration between me & fellow Filipina-American artist, Vanessa Briones. Vanessa & I have been good friends & collaborators for the last 7 years, & I felt so lucky I got to spend a lot of quality time with her again during my recent residency in San Francisco. It was nice to co-work adjacent to her at my SF studio space!

This idea, where I ask other artists to paint their vision in their style over my photo prints, is something I've thought of doing for years. Not only did I get to spend more than one day with Vanessa, I am honored she got to be the first to attempt this experimentation with me.

The photo is of Namacpacan Church in Luna, La Union, which you can read about its lore & history in my blog post Return Call Part 3.

This collaborative idea is something I hope I can develop into a series & get more artists involved in. Leave a comment or hit up my email if you're interested in attempting this with me!

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First risograph prints ever!

2/13/2025

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So excited to share the first risograph prints I've ever made, during my artist residency at ARROZidency, at OM France Studio at the Minnesota Street Project. I am absolutely IN LOVE with this process & it totally opened up a new format for me to present my photography, that never even crossed my mind. Huge thanks to Abby Banks for training me.

Back in undergrad, I did an internship at a screen printing shop & learnt all the various processes to make a print/design. Everything on the back end from color separation to layering the color registration during the printing process. The riso process was very familiar.

After a quick tutorial from Abby, I simply watched YouTube tutorials to get a rundown on the CMYK color separation process via Photoshop, created the design on PS using a photo from my recent Santo Niño Fiesta series (coming soon!), separated the colors out, printed the different color channels out for free at the public library, then ran them through the riso machine. It took days of practice, trial & error, & really understanding such an old, finicky machine. But the result was so worth it!

This summer, I am looking forward to taking a proper risograph training, so I can then have full-time access to a riso studio. I'm so thankful for this recent residency opportunity. Without it, I don't know if I would have ever thought to try bringing my photography to riso!

Here's some quick snaps from my phone, but I will make proper scans soon.

Stay tuned for my Santo Niño Fiesta photo documentary series coming soon, too. This cultural event is what I centered my residency project around & I look forward to sharing with you all who read my silly lil' blog. 😝

A run of test prints just on regular copier paper, when I was first practicing & learning to understand the machine.

Final prints on Bristol paper!

update 02.21.25:

Proper scan of the riso print, but the scan does the colors no justice!

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Lunar New Year, 2025

1/28/2025

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Happy Lunar New Year from so-called San Francisco, CA!

I've been in SF for a little over two weeks now, participating in an artist-in-residence program I was invited to nearly a year ago. This was something I was looking forward to all of last year & I've been having an amazing time so far. In just these past two weeks, I've got to connect with so many incredibly talented artists & arts professionals, experience so much art & culture, eat phenomenal food, & go on some scenic bike rides through parks & along the Bay. It's been an absolute dream.

I hesitated to share about this sooner since many of you know I mostly work in silence & don't post a lot online. Especially within these last 1-1.5 years with the genocide & ongoing occupation of Palestine, then with the massive wildfires back in my hometown of Los Angeles erupting across the city right as I left for my residency, I've struggled with sharing because it hasn't felt good to me.

However, in the next couple weeks as I start to wrap up my month-long residency, I'll be sharing more about what I've been making here in SF, as well as some more exciting news for my artistic "career".

2025 is year of the wood snake. The snake symbolises good luck & rebirth. Many of us in LA have had a rough start to 2025, & so many in Palestine have lost so much over nearly a century. I can't even begin to imagine what some are going through. But, while fire may be associated with destruction, it also comes with rebirth & regrowth. As we spend at least the next decade (or more) rebuilding, I hope 2025 is the year we all begin to rethink our relationship to the earth & each other, & the changes we need to make to ensure we see the land & our communities thrive for many more years.

Feel free to let me know in the comments what your hopes are for year of the wood snake. 🪵🐍

Anyways! Here's some pics from this last Sunday at the SF Chinatown Flower Market Fair, as well as a visit to Edge on the Square to see their current exhibition (please note they're not normally open on Sundays).

All photos are from my Nikon ZF with 40mm lens.

Please view from a computer for the full experience & you can click on any image below to enlarge.

***WALKING STORIES* AT *EDGE ON THE SQUARE***

Edge on the Square is a space I wanted to check out the previous Sunday as my little cousin & I walked around Chinatown after having lunch. As the window display caught my eye, I was bummed they were closed! Thanks to their newsletter, I found out about the Chinatown flower fair & I was very happy to see they were also open. Their current exhibition, Walking Stories, is not one to miss. It is an interactive exhibition that shares the narratives of several Asian/-American artists. Check it out while it's still up & make sure to grab yourself some free zines & print media made by the artists.

The exterior window display (pictured on the left) particularly caught my eye, since it seemed very Killjoy-esque. Not her work, but a great piece nonetheless. However, I have to say the installation on reparations (pictured on the right) was my fav of all the works. Definitely grab yourself a mini-zine from the artist as well.

MISC UPDATES:

Also opening on Lunar New Year in Seoul, South Korea, my work was selected to be part of the Czong Center for Contemporary Art (CICA Museum) group exhibition, PORTRAIT 2025, now on view through February 16, 2025.

Not sure if I have any followers based in Korea, or maybe one of you are planning a trip there, but go check it out for me if you can. :)

I also now have a calendar page on my website, that will include all my upcoming OOO dates, exhibitions & programming.

Lastly, I'd like to share, like many people, I am further reducing my activity on social media. Social media is not something I've enjoyed for many years now. Just like I got off of Facebook & Tumblr, I might exit Instagram as well, but not sure yet. I will continue updating this blog & my new calendar page. I also recently started rolling out more of my video "content" on my YouTube channel — please subscribe! It's mostly just for fun, hehe. In the mean time, the best thing for you to do is sign up for my newsletter at the form below, to receive my updates in your inbox.

Thanks for reading. I welcome any questions or dialogue in the comments. 🖤

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Return Call Part 6: Cebu Studies

11/30/2024

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Going a bit out of sequence from my recent trip to the Philippines, here are some photos from a short trip my mom & I took to Cebu together. Part exploration & holiday, part study & research for an upcoming artist residency, where I am studying the origins of the Santo Niño & its context in contemporary Philippines & the diaspora.

Some photos are not related to the research at all, but included are digital compositions from additional explorations around Cebu City. Fair warning, some photos are not good at all... Haha, but are more intended just for documenting purposes.

All photos are from my Nikon ZF using a 24-70mm lens. I was able to sort through the photos properly through my desktop this time & edit them through Adobe Lightroom. However, for previous photos, I used the Nikon SnapBridge app through my iPhone, which I highly recommend if you're on the go & just want to get some snaps off your Nikon really quickly.

Click an image below to enlarge. View from a computer for the full experience. Comments are welcome! :)

Journey to Clark International Airport

The only way to get to Cebu from San Juan, La Union was to fly, since it is another island quite far away. My mom & I decided to fly out of Clark International Airport in Pampanga instead of taking the bus 6-8 hours to Manila & flying out of there. Neither of us had ever been to Clark before. After some research & confirmation from the bus company, we learnt you take the Bataan Transit bus out of San Fernando (the neighboring town) to Dau bus terminal in Pampanga, then either catch a short shuttle bus or taxi to the airport from there. Altogether, the journey was about 4 hours (minimal traffic since we left San Juan at 2AM), & saved us a few hours compared to having to trek to Manila.

Clark was a positive experience, which no one usually says about airports & flying, haha. There was no traffic outside, the airport architecture was spacious, & there were more food options compared to the airport in Manila. I look forward to flying into/out of Clark Airport on my next trip to the Philippines.

Loved the Mondrian-esque stained glass color scheme of this bus terminal & the vintage-looking buses.

I was enamored by Clark Airport's post-vaporwave liminal space waiting room. Have you ever seen an airport that looks like this?

Sugbo Sentro

Located near our hotel was Sugbo Sentro, an outdoor food court filled with local Cebuano cuisines. Throughout the food establishments, one can find small Santo Niño altars among the food displays, as well as dancing plastic bags — an innovative solution to keeping flies away from the food.

If you are vegetarian/vegan, there are not a whole lot of options here for outside of juice, rice & salted duck eggs. Sorry! 😅 I recall the space being handicap accessible (correct me if I'm wrong), but I'm not sure about the toilets. As a general practice when traveling in the Philippines, be sure to always bring your own tissue, hankies & hand sanitiser, as many toilets are not equipped with tissue or hand soap. 🥴

A small local fruit stand situated just outside of the food court. Some of my fav fruits are lanzones (which I've only ever seen in the Philippines) & rambutan. I always make sure to have these fruits whenever I go home, because they're either not accessible in the US, or they're very expensive & bland.

Palm leaves woven into vessels used to steam rice. Woven palm leaves used to cook food can be found throughout the archipelago & other parts of Southeast Asia.

Small Santo Niño shrines & flying plastic bags found throughout the restaurants. Filipinos are truly the most resourceful.

Jumalon Butterfly Sanctuary & Art Gallery

The Jumalon Butterfly Santuary & Art Gallery is a lesser-known attraction I found in my travel guide. Many of you who know me well know that I really love butterflies. Aesthetically they're beautiful, but I also love what they represent metaphorically. Transition, transformation, change, movement, migration, travel & sometimes return (depending on the type).

If you love nature, science & art, I highly recommend visiting this space. There is a small entrance fee, but if you are in a position to donate more, please do as the sanctuary is completely sustained by the family & is not supported by any government funding. You can also support by letting more people know about the sanctuary. From what the remaining family members told us, they were getting so many more visitors, school & university tours prior to the pandemic. Like many small businesses & DIY spaces, the pandemic took a toll on their foot traffic. So if you happen to be in Cebu City, please make sure to pay this unique space a visit.

Here are some photos from my Nikon ZF. Fair warning, not all are nice. I documented some just for the sake of documenting, so please don't come at me in the comments with mean banter. Be nice to me. 🥹

A few misc compositions of the garden spaces of the sanctuary. Not pictured are the fluttering butterflies that could be spotted throughout. It was a bit difficult for me to photograph them. 😅 But also, I kind of didn't want to? Sometimes it's nice to just be in the moment without holding up a camera to everything. I noticed when juxtaposing these 4 images together, they kind of have similar compositions. What do you think?

DIY display timeline on the life of Julian N. Jumalon.

Mosaic painting by Julian N. Jumalon, made with broken butterfly wings.

Julian N. Jamalon was not only an avid butterfly enthusiast, but he was also an artist & some would even say a scientist. We were told he'd been collecting butterflies since he was a child. As an adult, he was the first artist to create mosaic paintings out of broken butterfly wings, which he'd spent time collecting over many years. Not pictured, we also got a tour of his private art studio & study, which contained many of his original sketches, small watercolor paintings & research. Something about looking into a dead man's private life was eerie, but also beautiful & special.

Not formally trained as a biologist, he was also a scientist, being the first to study Native butterflies of the Philippines. He traveled throughout the Philippines, Southeast Asia & other parts of the world collecting & studying butterflies, moths & other insects.

Side note: Turns out it's really difficult to photograph objects behind glass! Or, maybe I'm just not doing it properly? If any other photographers have tips, please let me know what you've got. I'm still learning a lot of new things since picking up digital photography.

A few outdoor butterfly sculpture displays.

Spiraling DIY display of cocoons held together with binder clips.

Here's some photos of the interior gallery displays. Small, intimate, & situated on the ground level of the family's home, this gallery was like stepping into a time capsule of someone's personal life. Filled with dozens of insects, this gallery also displayed plenty of misc bric-a-brac collected during Jumalon's travels over the decades. The best part of this gallery was its unpretentious & DIY nature. Everything had its own charm & personality, including the ceiling fan, old AC wall unit, cocoons inside of plastic food containers, & mismatched fabrics used to cover the displays. I hope if this collection is ever acquired by a museum, they display it exactly like this, because this is not only a collection of art & science, but it's a history of a multigenerational family's life, which is just as important & equally deserves to be preserved in the same caliber.

Last stop at the sanctuary was the art gallery (entrance pictured above), which housed all of Jumalon's award-winning original watercolor & mosaic paintings. Once inside, there is no photography allowed. I'm assuming due to fear of illegal reproductions, which is understandable. This means you'll have to visit in-person someday to see what the paintings look like! 😉

Carbon Market

Next, we visited a massive palengke (open-air public market), known as the Carbon Market. It is the oldest & biggest palengke in Cebu. It was so big, we did not get through the whole market. One, because it was so overwhelming & crowded. Two, because it was way too hot & the heat exhaustion was starting to kick in. 🥵

Dating back to the early 20th century, during the American colonial era of the Philippines, this palengke has everything from tropical fruits & veggies, street food, pasalubong (souvenirs), woven goods, flowers & more. My mom was taken aback by how much cheaper the fruit was compared to San Juan & brought back two giant bags of lanzones & rambutan.

As you will see, I also came across a handful of small Santo Niño altars throughout the market.

The parts along the roads can be handicap accessible. However, once you go inside, the walkways are so narrow & full of items, even a walking person can have difficulty getting through. Please practice caution & awareness when walking throughout the aisles.

Misc Parade

Misc parade celebration we came across on our way to the basilica. I don't really know what it was for, haha. I am assuming it was a promotion for a local politician.

Basilica Minore del Santo Niño de Cebu

This was the main thing I wanted to go to Cebu for. I wanted to learn about the origins of the Santo Niño in the Philippines & go back to where it all started. It's quite a lot to explain & this post is already very long, but you can learn about the history on the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño de Cebu official website.

If you do plan to visit the basiilica, make sure to wear proper attire. It is a lot like the Vatican now: full of tourists & dress code rules. Make sure you wear a top with sleeves that does not expose your chest or back, wear close-toed shoes, & if you are wearing a dress, skirt or shorts, make sure they are well past your knees, including the backs of your knees when you bend over. They will not let you in otherwise! I thought my dress was long enough, but they saw the backs of my knees & did not let me enter. I ended up having to go to a shop nearby that sold long skirts. The funny thing was, they just started enforcing this new dress code maybe one or two days before we visited. There are loads of vendors outside the basilica selling prayer candles & other religious souvenirs. There could be a new market for the vendors to now sell long skirts & shirts. 😅

Lastly, please note that some parts of the basilica are not handicap accessible. 😔

I think for me, speaking as a non-Catholic/Christian/religious person in-general, the coolest thing I got to see was the original image of the Santo Niño that first appeared in the Philippines as far back as the 16th century. Many make the pilgrimage to visit this Holy Child & sometimes queue up for several hours to quickly glance at it encased behind bulletproof glass. Me? I got lucky & only waited for 10 minutes, haha.

A bit difficult to photograph the interior of the cathedral, since visitors are not allowed to do photography past a certain point. I tried my best!

Magellan's Cross, found just outside of the basilica compound, symbolises the Spanish colonisation & Christianisation of the Philippines in 1521. 😮‍💨 The mural depicts the baptism of the former Cebu royalty to Catholicism.

Not actually at the Basilica, this was a small religious souvenir shop located just opposite. Here, I got to purchase my own mini Santo Niño made out of wood, as well as other religious goods. Mentioning again for clarity, I am not religious, & this is for research purposes only.

El Fuerte de San Pedro & the National Museum of the Philippines — Cebu

El Fuerte de San Pedro (Fort San Pedro) is the oldest fort in the Philippines. This makes sense, since the first Spanish settlement was in Cebu. Sources online state that you can view original artworks & Spanish artifacts at the fort. This is no longer true, as they have been acquired by the National Museum. The museum is located just next door & you can easily walk on over to learn more about Cebuano & Bisayan history, both precolonial & colonial.

Fort San Pedro is not handicap accessible. If I recall, the National Museum does have lifts & accessible toilets available.

Right: Small Santo Niño sculpture displayed at the National Museum. Unfortunately, I do not know who the artist is! If you know who it is, please let me know & I can properly credit them.

Thank You!

That concludes this very long post & the Return Call blog series! If you made it this far & actually read everything — thank you! But if you just skimmed through the photos, I appreciate that, too. I know I could have easily broken up this post into multiple smaller posts, but it was important to me to keep each part of the trip together as their own mini-series within a series.

Coming soon: Hopefully some film photos! I sent about 28 rolls to the lab & have soooooo many to scan. Each roll is 36 exposures, so please be patient as I sort through them all. I'm excited to share I've upgrade my 10 year old scanner & have a shiny new scanner to work with that is much higher quality & should hopefully shave off a significant amount of editing time. I'm stoked to share the results with you all!

I welcome any questions or dialogue in the comments below. Would love to know your thoughts on this post. 🖤

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Return Call Part 5: Ugnayan

10/16/2024

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My month-long stay in the motherland is coming to an end & I'll be headed to Japan this upcoming Saturday, where I'll be based for the next week. I've been in Manila since yesterday & have been crying ever since I left La Union. I never wanted to leave.

To say the Philippines was an absolute dream is an understatement. Being in the land where my ancestors & family have thrived for generations was the healing I needed. It was more than just a holiday. It was a profoundly spiritual experience that entailed psychic ancestor communication via animals & rare natural phenomena, [re]connecting & repairing my relationship with the land, & deep interpersonal connection I never thought I would experience here.

I have no idea when I'll be back, if ever again. Life takes hold & it's never easy to predict. But, I do know this was by far my best trip to the Philippines yet. From epic bike rides through acres of rice paddies, to the most coffee I've drank since I lived in Oregon, to vegan Filipino food, to the coolest book stores, independent art spaces & ukay-ukay — thank you to everyone who contributed to one of the most formative trips of my life. My crushed soul & spirit is healing. ❤️‍🩹

Here are some photos from our bike rides & brewing coffee by the river. Unless otherwise stated, all photos are from my Nikon ZF using a 24-70mm lens, imported to my iPhone using the Nikon SnapBridge app & lightly edited through my photos app.

View from a computer for the full experience. Click an image to enlarge.

🗣️Ride or Die!

Bike rides through Dangdangla & adjacent barangays early in my trip.

Welcome arch of Brgy Dangdangla, San Juan La Union; my mother's home village, where she was born & raised.

Pic from Tep Atento. Me (pink safety vest) & my beloved nephew & niece!

Pic from Tep Atento.

Karayan

From my last day in La Union on Tuesday. My nephew, niece & I rode our bikes, met up with friends & brewed coffee by the river. It was the best day ever. 🥲

Check out that side eye from Sweeper. □

More side eye from Miss Sweeper. □

That's all for now. Feel free to leave a nice comment & share your thoughts!

I will try to sort through my photos from Cebu when I get a moment. There are so many. Until then, I'm Tokyo bound next, so stay tuned for photos from my first trip to Japan!

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Return Call Part 4: Vigan, Ilokos Sur

10/16/2024

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Took a quick little day trip to Vigan with my nephew, niece & a friend. I wasn't too focused on doing a lot of photography this day, so only photographed a few of the places we visited. I just wasn't feeling it. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Here's some photos from my Nikon ZF using a 24-70mm lens, imported to my phone using the Nikon SnapBridge app & lightly edited through my photos app.

Cristy's Loom Weaving

I've been on the hunt for a certain pattern for a friend who requested it. However, I've had no luck finding it! It's okay tho. I've gotten to visit multiple establishments that carry handmade woven goods & got to visit this small weaving factory for the first time in Vigan. The weaver pictured here is a third generation weaver. She mentioned it takes about two weeks to finish a piece.

Hidden Garden

Last time I went to Vigan, this is where we went to get the famous empanadas that Vigan is known for. Hidden Garden also has an actual garden you can explore... with arguably racist sculptures presented throughout (not pictured)? 😅

Sad thing tho is, we weren't able to get our Vigan empanadas. We got there around 1130AM & they said the empanadas weren't available until after lunchtime. BOOOOOOOOOOO.

Misc Church

I have no idea which church this was! We went to the Crisologo Museum then stumbled upon this church on our walk to our next destination. I tried looking on the map, but couldn't locate a church that looked like this. If you happen to know which church this is, leave a comment & let me know!

Feel free to leave a comment & share any thoughts! I might update this post again later with a map of the places we visited during this trip. Keep an eye out for the comments!

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Return Call Part 3: Luna, La Union

10/16/2024

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Going a bit out of sequence because I have so many photos to sort through from Cebu still... So here are some pics to my quick visit to Luna, La Union.

About 6 years ago, I visited the town of Luna (formerly known as Namacpacan) & the Namacpacan Church (AKA the Santa Catalina de Alejandria Church) for the first time. The church was built in the late 1600s.

What is special about this church? This church houses the largest image of the Mama Mary/Apo Baket in the whole Philippines, & found its way to Luna in the 1800s. She was originally ordered from Spain & was intended to be delivered to Vigan, Ilokos Sur via a galleon ship coming from Mexico. Due to a heavy storm that caused difficulty in transportation, Our Lady of Namacpacan found her way to Luna & this was perceived as her communicating that she wanted to live in Luna.

Here are some photos I created with my Nikon ZF using a 24-70mm lens (I always forget to mention what lens I'm using – it's the only lens I brought with me, haha), imported to my iPhone using the Nikon SnapBridge app & lightly edited through my photos app.

The good thing about this visit is, last time I didn't get to explore the compound, so there are new places I got to experience at this place.

View from a computer for the full experience. Click an image to enlarge.

I don't know, but they seem to love their dead Jesuses inside of clear glass coffins. This is the third one I've seen since I've been here!

After hitting up the religious gift shop, the lady working there told us there was a special room filled with displays of all the dresses they put on the Apo Baket. It was like walking into a mini gallery. Each dress in itself was a handmade work of art! Aside from the 6'4 Apo Baket herself, this was my favorite feature of the church compound!

Look at it closely: Mama Mary's metal studded punk cape! Hands down my fav outfit of her's.

Lastly, got to visit some old Spanish ruins around the church compound that I didn't even know were there. Pretty cool stuff, but a bit dangerous with uneven grounds & broken stairs.

Church exterior.

There is a local belief that those that travel to visit the Apo Baket to pray to her will have their prayers answered. Back in 2018 is when I paid my first visit to the church & offered my first prayer to her. My prayer hasn't been answered yet, but I don't know if it will ever come true. You kind of have to believe, no?

This church was declared a national cultural treasure by the National Museum of the Philippines. I'm actually surprised that with the lore of the Apo Baket, there aren't more tourists. Barely any, actually. If more people knew about this cultural landmark, whether they're religious or not, I feel that there would be more visitors, naturally. If you're like me & enjoy collecting religious art, don't forget to stop by their gift shop!

Pay this spot a visit during your travels through La Union. You can also stop by to have food by the stone beach, visit the Kamay na Bato gallery or Bahay na Bato. There's some fun things to do in Luna!

Feel free to leave a nice comment below & let me know what you think!

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Return Call Part 2: Baguio, Benguet

10/11/2024

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Thank you to everyone who took the time to read my previous post, Return Call Part 1. All the positive comments were overwhelmingly sweet & encouraging.

For this second installment of my Return Call blog series, I revisited one of my favorite cities in the Philippines: Baguio, located in the province of Benguet in the Cordilleras region of the north.

Baguio is one of my dream cities I'd love to live in someday if I could. The art scene is booming, the city is full of life, the weather & scenery are just gorgeous. While my family is from a coastal region of the north, the mountains always resonated with me more than the ocean does, which is why I think Baguio appeals to me more than our hometown. But, also not saying I don't love La Union either. ;)

Anyways, here's some places we got to visit this time around. We were there just for a day trip, but got to fit in activities I've always wanted to cross off my bucket list.

These photos were taken on my Nikon ZF, exported low-res versions to my mobile phone using the Nikon SnapBridge app, then lightly edited through the Photos app on my iPhone.

View this post from a computer for the full experience. Click an image below to enlarge.

Feel free to leave a nice comment & share your thoughts. 🥰

W A R N I N G! Below are images of traditional artworks that portray sexual activities & body parts. Scroll cautiously if you are viewing at work or school. I am not responsible for you getting fired or kicked out of school!

Baguio Cathedral of Our Lady of the Atonement

Not much to say about this one, but you all know how much I love examining church architecture, art & iconography.

This cathedral once acted as an evacuation center during WWII, & was one of the few buildings in the city that survived carpet bombing by the US military.

Because there was a mass happening inside when we visited the church, I was unable to explore the interior. However, the crucifix outside, leading up to the steps of the church, was probably my fav feature.

Ili Likha Artists' Village

This is a space I just found out about recently through a friend. Created by Philippine national artist Kidlat Tahimik, Ili Likha is an art center with several sculptures and installations throughout the space, a theatre, multiple eateries & souvenir shops with plenty of handmade gifts & goodies.

You can learn more about them through their Facebook or Instagram pages.

Heads up for those of you who use wheelchairs or struggle with stairs — The space is situated inside of an old building with multiple floors & levels that are not handicap accessible. 😔

For my cancer crab ladies. ;)

Loved the gorgeous mosaics found throughout the building, especially along this stairwell.

Playing sungka! Or some of you may know this game as mancala.

Oh My Gulay!

Oh My Gulay is a vegetarian/vegan artist cafe also created by Kidlat Tahimik & his family. Gulay is Tagalog for vegetables. 🍆 OMG has been on my bucket list for years & I'm glad I finally got to make it! This restaurant not only has installations and architecture similar to those at Ili Likha, but it also houses a small art gallery for emerging artists, as well as more art displays throughout.

OMG is located on a penthouse top floor. If I remember correctly, you need to climb around 5 flights of stairs, but the view is breathtaking once you finally get to the top. Because of how old the building is, this is another location that is sadly not handicap accessible or friendly for wheelchair users. :( Even my senior mom, who is in fairly descent shape for her age, was struggling to get to the top floor. I hope someday, by some miracle, a lift is built to help bring customers to the top to enjoy the view & this gem of a dining establishment. It's unlike any other restaurant I've been to & I'd love for everyone to be able to access & enjoy it!

You can learn more about Oh My Gulay & the Victor Oteyza Community Art Space (VOCAS Gallery) on their Facebook pages. Sorry to anyone who doesn't use FB — I, personally, don't use it either!

Check out Nona Garcia's collection of hyper-realistic paintings in her solo exhibition After Artists at the VOCAS Gallery located inside Oh My Gulay. The paintings were so realistic, I thought they were photographs upon first glance, until I got closer and realised they were paintings. Definitely check them out in-person if you happen to be passing through Baguio while the exhibition is still up.

BenCab Museum

The BenCab Museum is also another landmark in Baguio that has been on my bucket list for years. It seemed that the coolest places to visit in Baguio were all located quite far from the city center. That being said, I couldn't visit them all, & decided to visit the BenCab Museum for this short trip.

I would love to return again someday for the full experience. Unfortunately, because it was rainy that day, we couldn't check out the whole BenCab Museum campus, which also features Mr. BenCab's organic farm & garden.

Benedicto Reyes Cabrera, AKA BenCab, is also another National Artist of the Philippines. The museum contains displays of his own artworks, as well as rotating exhibitions & works from his permanent collection.

Imelda Cajipe-Endaya is a Filipina artist whose work I adore & have always wanted to see in-person. I didn't know what to expect when visiting the museum, but it was a real treat being surprised & getting to see her work in real life. (Right on the right image above)

End of the day... Back at the bus terminal.

It was a long day. I do not recommend taking the bus or driving to Baguio on a weekend day. What is usually a 1.5 trip on the bus ended up taking 3 hours each way! Definitely go on a weekday, leave early, or plan to spend a night or weekend if you do go on a weekend day.

During this trip, we also visited a weaving art shop called Narda's, but I didn't take any photos of it, haha. Next time, some more places I'd love to visit in Baguio include Tam-awan Village, Valley of Colors, Easter Weaving, Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto (if you know me, you know I LOVE The Grotto in Portland — It's one of my fav places on this planet), Baguio Night Market, Mt. Cloud Bookshop, Baguio Botanical Garden, & a couple cafes around the city.

If you fancy it, here's a Google Map I created of places I've visited in the past, during this trip, & the places I would still like to visit in Baguio. Feel free to save the map for your future reference!

Feel free to leave a nice comment & share your thoughts. 🥰

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Return Call Part 1: San Juan & San Fernando, La Union 2024

9/26/2024

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It's been exactly 5 years since I've returned to the motherland. The last time I was in the Philippines was to bury my father back in 2019. I'd been wanting to return more frequently since then, but the pandemic suddenly came out of left field. Even on my way over, I can't say I was comfortable being trapped in multiple airports & planes with herds of unmasked & coughing people for what turned out to be over 24 hours of commuting. But, I knew if I didn't do this now, it may be a long time until I could return.

After losing my full-time employment in early September, I answered the return call to come home once again...

Here's the first installment of some pics pulled from my Nikon ZF. I no longer have a Lightroom subscription, so I imported these lower-res pics over to my mobile via the Nikon SnapBridge app & did some light edits through the photos app on my iPhone.

More to come, & film photos will be available when I get back to the states, process & scan them all. Can't wait to tell you all about my new film scanner, too. Stay tuned!

Enjoy! Feel free to leave a nice comment & let me know what you think. ;)

View from a computer for the full experience. Click an image below to enlarge.

Some public transportation watching in San Fernando (top right & bottom) & San Juan town proper (top left). I love the public transportation in the Philippines. There's nothing else like it! And I love all the names people give their jeepneys. This one, for example, was named Alaska Halibut. 😆

The following photos are of the church my father was baptised in, & where we also held his mass before we buried him. It turns out St. John the Baptist Church was built sometime in the late 1600s or early 1700s. It is where most of my family on my father's side were baptised, married, &/or also had their mass before burial. This church is very special to my family. 🙏🏽

Please note — I, myself, do not identify as religious. Throughout my work, I document colonial legacies specifically relating to religions & their iconography, more specifically Christianity & its lasting influences through contemporary times. It's probably one of my fav themes to explore!

Not a great pic at all because of the glare, but this creepy display was motion censored & abruptly lit up when my niece & I walked close to it! Scared the shit out of us & I just wanted to share a crappy photo for you to all see what we were looking at. We weren't exactly sure who the figure inside was supposed to be, because there was no signage indicating who it was. However, we believe based on the stigmata on the feet, that maybe this is supposed to be Jesus? 🤷🏻‍♀️

🌾 Rice harvest season: Life in Dangdangla, San Juan, La Union, Philippines.

Dangdangla is a small barangay in the municipality of San Juan. It has a population of roughly 1000 residents.

For those of you who don't know, the simplest way to translate the word barangay (ba-ran-gy) to English would be village or community? The word originated from the balangay, which was a type of boat used by the Austronesians when they sailed & settled in the Philippines. The word was originally pronounced ba-la-ngay.

My first time to see a carabao out in the wild & close up! The carabao (kalabaw/karabaw) is a type of water buffalo & is known as the national animal of the Philippines, symbolising hard work. Carabao were often found helping with rice cultivation. 💪🏽🐂

Lastly, I ended my river excursion in Dangdangla with a rare double rainbow sighting. 🌈 To me, one rainbow is already remarkable. But to experience a double rainbow in the land my ancestors once thrived in felt like a blessing, & hopefully a good omen.

In pre-colonial Philippine culture, there is a belief that the soul is transported to the afterlife through maritime travel by a boat that flows down a river, & is then returned to nature to guide their descendants. I'd like to think maybe this was a sign from my father, saying "Welcome home, kid. I'm here if you need me." 🤲🏽

Stay tuned for digital pics from my upcoming adventures to Baguio & Cebu! 📸

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A FORT HELD TOGETHER by spit & prayerS: Installation views

9/9/2024

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A Fort Held Together by Spit & Prayers: Clarisse Abelarde, Summer 2024 Artist in Residence at Arts at Blue Roof

8/21/2024

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***CONTENT WARNING***
Some adult imagery below. Scroll with caution!

This summer, I was invited to be a mentor to Arts at Blue Roof's summer artist in residence, Clarisse Abelarde, an emerging oil painter from the Philippines. I had the privilege to witness Clarisse's creative process & explore her new body of work, which is now culminating as her solo exhibition A Fort Held Together by Spit & Prayers. Please join us at the opening reception, as we celebrate her creativity & hard work over the summer. No RSVP required to join the opening.

OPENING RECEPTION:
A Fort Held Together by Spit & Prayers
by Clarisse Abelarde
Saturday, August 24, 2024
6-9PM

Arts at Blue Roof
7329 S. Broadway Ave.
South Central LA, CA 90003

Viewable 08/24-09/21/24

SCHEDULE VIEWING

Here's some behind-the-scenes photos of Clarisse at her summer studio at Arts at Blue Roof. Photos by me on my Nikon ZF with 24-70mm lens. 🙂

View from computer for the full experience.

I never really experimented with off-camera flash for personal work, especially not with colored gels. While I continue to practice my digital photography & portraiture skills, I want to keep pushing myself to try new gear & techniques I haven't used for personal work in the past.

Thank you, Clarisse, for allowing me to experiment with my new Lightpix Labs Flashq Q20ii! And thanks to my homie Art Bueno for recommending this flash unit & for always encouraging me to push my photography boundaries even further.

Fair warning, the first photo with the red gel was a complete accident, but we both agreed we really liked it. 🤣 Hopefully one day I can figure out how to replicate this look on purpose! (For someone who's done photography for nearly 20 years, I've got the photography skills of Britta Perry.)

Rare admin reveal – me on the bottom right. 😉
I'm usually the one behind the camera, not in front of it. It took us a good 5 mins to figure out how to find the self-timer on my camera, too. 💀

If you've never been, Arts at Blue Roof is a unique art space that looks like it inhabits a former church. For those of you who are close to me, you know that one of my dreams has been to buy an old church in the Philippines & convert it to an art gallery & studio. Walking through Blue Roof was big inspo. 🙌🏽 During my time living in England, I was inspired by all the former churches that were converted to secular housing, while still maintaining the integrity of the original architecture. Why not convert more of these structures to community spaces, like Blue Roof has done?

Here's some pics of the cool lounge area at Blue Roof!

Pics of the exhibition installation to come! Stay tuned & make sure to follow me on Instagram @nica_aquino for updates.

Click "READ MORE" below if you're interested in hiring me for photo work!

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Neighborhood Pride

4/1/2024

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On Saturday, March 16, 2024, I had the opportunity to join Clockshop for their walking tour of Cypress Park — the neighborhood my partner & I have lived in for nearly a decade. Clockshop's neighborhood walking series was led by Maryam Hosseinzadeh & is part of their Take Me to Your River project. We walked along Cypress Avenue & visited local legacy businesses, street murals, & more.

Having explored Cypress Park on foot for so many years, it was remarkable to meet the artists behind the murals I've seen in the neighborhood for the last decade, & also learn about murals I'd never seen before! It was also lovely to learn about the historic buildings and architecture that preceded our time here, such as the original Cypress Park Library, La Morenita (a former bakery), & the old firehouse.

I didn't get pics of it all, because I also wanted to learn & take it all in myself, but here's a few snaps of the event through my eyes. Funny thing is, some people thought I was there working. One of the artists thought I was a reporter & some other folks thought I was working doing photography for the event. Sometimes Capricorns do stuff for fun, too, not just for business... 🤣

Click on any image below to enlarge. Best viewed from a computer for the full experience.

Details of Vistas de Harmony (1997) mural by Leo Limon. Located behind Metro bus division 3, by the Cypress Park Rec Center.

Speaking is Joe Ibarra, who shared his memories of assisting Leo Limon with the mural (alongside other artist assistants), as he also worked as a library clerk at the original Cypress Park Library at the time.

Program host Maryam Hosseinzadeh speaking by Leo Limon's Vistas de Harmony mural.

Peter Quezada shared about the barrier put up in the 1990s due to gangs using it as a cut through by the Cypress Park Rec Center.

Growing up in Pico-Union for many years, I was surrounded by MS13 gang activity. I'm no stranger to streets with barriers, since the street I grew up on myself had one & so did 3 other nearby streets going along Pico.

Rodolfo Kardona and his daughter Ximena Kardona shared how he works with local businesses, selects colors and themes for each business, and his regular inclusion of the Virgen de Guadalupe. He's painted multiple murals at Cypress Park establishments such as Lupita's Mexican Restaurant & Divine Savior church, & also St. Ann's just across the river in Frogtown.

Here we were opposite Lupita's Restaurant by the Metro bus division. Unfortunately, I didn't cross the street to get a pic of his Virgen mural, but I encourage you to check it out in-person & get a meal at Lupita's Restaurant any time on Idell & Avenue 28 (90065)!

These detailed pencil drawings were drawn by Manny (pictured in the red shirt), who would like to start creating murals in the community. He shared his artwork with us after finding us along the tour route.

Northeast Los Angeles and Neighborhood Pride (2012) murals by Peter Quezada.

Peter talked about his process of painting in alleys close to neighbors and kids, his use of Olde English, cartoon characters and experimenting with other lettering. I appreciate that he also shared why he chose to paint "Northeast Los Angeles" instead of "Cypress Park". "Cypress Park" is the name of our local gang, & he mentioned the mural would have been scratched out instantly. Painting "Northeast Los Angeles" instead was inclusive of all the neighborhoods that make up NELA.

These murals were new to me — I'd never seen them before this tour! Sadly, I can't remember where exactly they were at, just that they were close to the Divine Savior church. If you happen to know their location, feel free to leave a comment & let us know.

Details of murals by Rodolfo Kardona at Lupita's Market. Located on Cypress & Merced.

Rodolfo spoke about the Aztec warrior he painted on Lupita's Market in 2018, his own repair process, use of high quality house paint that doesn't fade, & the wood carved signs inside & 3D artwork, including this image of Juan Diego with the Virgen de Guadalupe on his cloak.

I love Lupita's Market! For years I always wondered if Lupita's the market & Lupita's the restaurant were related or if they beefed it over the name. 😂

Flintstones (1997) by Peter Quezada.

This mural was painted by Peter with kids from the neighborhood, whose names are included on the scroll. It is a neighborhood artwork. I got to connect with Peter while we were visiting this mural, & he told me Pebbles & Bamm-bamm were references to his kids, & Fred Flintstone is holding the Land Before Time book because of the movie series that was out at the time.

I have probably walked by this Flintstones mural at least 100x & have always wondered about it. It was so cool to meet the person who painted it!

Murals & signage painted by Rodolfo Kardona at El Quetzal Bird Shop.

For many years, we ate at the original Tierra Caliente restaurant formerly located across the alley adjacent to the bird shop. I never knew multiple neighborhood murals were painted by one man. I'm personally scared of birds, but I still think this is a fun amenity to have in our neighborhood. 😅

Andres of Arvia LA (left) & the owners of Cypress Liquor (right).

This family is local to the neighborhood & has been serving the community for years. Whether you're looking for beer, liquor, wine, a lighter or a snack, stop by & support Cypress Liquor, the last oldschool business standing on the 1200 block of Cypress & Alice.

LAST STOP: Arvia LA with Andres, Clare & Richard (the cat).

Andres shared how his detailed multimedia mosaics not only changed the alley visually, but also recorded the passing of time for him. The further he created down the alley marked a certain time period or memory. Whenever I have friends visiting, I love taking them to check out what's new or ongoing at the Arvia LA alley. It's always fun to look for easter eggs & see what hidden features are around.

You can access the Arvia LA murals through the alley entrance on either Cypress or Isabel, between Arvia & Granada. Keep your eyes peeled for Andres' mosaics around the neighborhood, too!

If you made it this far, THANKS!

Keep in touch. Follow me on Instagram @nica_aquino or subscribe to my newsletter for occasional updates on my projects, programs & events.

Click "READ MORE" below if you're interested in hiring me for photo work!

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Leaving Tumblr

2/27/2024

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Sadly, I will no longer be posting on my Tumblr page. Tumblr is going to start feeding artwork into AI technology & having my work stolen is not a risk I'm willing to take.

Yes, I've updated my settings so Tumblr supposedly cannot take my work to feed into AI tech, but I still don't trust it.

Anyways, if you'd ever like to access the Tumblr blog archive again, I've password protected it & made the page private. Visit any time at nicaaquino.tumblr.com & enter the password: nicaaquino

For now, I've started a new blog space directly through my website platform. You can access it at nicaaquino.com/blog

Bon voyage, Tumblr! To all my friends I've made on that website over the years, feel free to follow me on Instagram at instagram.com/nica_aquino

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May 2025

​August 2025

ARTIST TALK & PHOTO WALK WITH NICA AQUINO

Around the Plaza & Tanqui

La Union Provincial Capital

Later Day Explorations

Kaamulan Fest

​Abbey of Transfiguration

MISC ILIGAN...

Paseo de Santiago

Tambo Public Market

Beadwork Workshop at Espasyo Creative HUb

​Jeepneys of Iligan

Butterflies

update 02.21.25:​

WALKING STORIES AT ​EDGE ON THE SQUARE

MISC UPDATES:

Journey to Clark International Airport

Sugbo Sentro

Jumalon Butterfly Sanctuary & Art Gallery

Carbon Market

​Misc Parade

Basilica Minore del Santo Niño de Cebu

El Fuerte de San Pedro & the National Museum of the Philippines — Cebu

Thank You!

🗣️Ride or Die!

​Karayan

Cristy's Loom Weaving

​Hidden Garden

​Misc Church

Baguio Cathedral of Our Lady of the Atonement

Ili Likha Artists' Village

Oh My Gulay!

BenCab Museum

End of the day... Back at the bus terminal.

NICA AQUINO

Archives

Categories

August 2025

Abbey of Transfiguration

Jeepneys of Iligan

update 02.21.25:

***WALKING STORIES* AT *EDGE ON THE SQUARE***

Misc Parade

Karayan

Hidden Garden

Misc Church