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If you're reading this: Congratulations! You made it to Friday & survived another week of this capitalist hellscape & arbitrary white supremacy culture... We did it. 🥲 I'm up late trying to finish this photo blog. Shout out to all my creatives who stay up late working on their art, while having a day job in the morning that they need to report to in order to survive & support their creative practice... It's not easy to balance both. I've struggled with it a lot in the past & found that my creative practice always has to take a back seat to wage labor & surviving capitalism. It's hard not to be depressed knowing that is just reality & there's nothing you can really do about it, but oh well, I guess. Anyways, here's some photos from Heritage Square Museum's Dia de los Muertos event last weekend. It was our first time visiting Heritage Square Museum (despite living in Northeast LA for over 10 years!) & it was really interesting. We would love to go back another time when there isn't a massive event going on & actually check out the historic homes and other sites on the property. Growing up in Los Angeles, Dia de los Muertos has always been one of my favorite celebrations. In the Philippines we know it as Undas. I've always had a fascination with death. I'm not uncomfortable talking about it — it's just part of life & sadly it's just been around me a lot. In fact, I had a few near-death encounters in my early 20s myself... Everywhere I've lived as an adult, I've always had an altar in my house to honor the ancestors & invite the spirits for protection & good energy. This is not a practice I grew up with, as I was not raised religious or spiritual in any way, but something I learnt to practice on my own. The good part about not having religion or spirituality forced on me was, I had the freedom to explore different beliefs & study them on my own. Day of the Dead is something I look forward to every year. And if you know me, you know I've produced a few programs centering the occasion myself.
These photos below were created with my Nikon ZF & Pocket Dispo lens. For clarity, I was not paid for these photos. I went to this event & did photography for fun. If you want to hire me for event photography, please get in touch! View from a computer for the full experience. Click a photo to enlarge.
 Some of you know I love vintage public transportation. 🤓 
Live painting by @samanthafriedart (right). 
 
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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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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. Kaamulan FestAside 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 TransfigurationWe 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. |
NICA AQUINOIn this space I'll share digital previews of my film photography, updates on new artworks in progress, upcoming programs, inspiration & my other misc interests. Archives
February 2026
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