Group exhibition at Art Underground in Mandaluyong City.
May 2017
My second group exhibition at Art Underground. Like the previous exhibition “Little People” we were given a blank cement cast bulol to personalize or decorate. I decided to give this Bulol an indigenous interpretation, using traditional tattoo patterns and hay to add a natural element to it.
My work is titled Mambabatok sa Balaklaot which translates to “Tattoo artist in the monsoon.” This is a fictitious rice field deity whose body is hand-stamped with body art inspired by the traditional tattooing methods of Apo Whang-Od. The bulul is wearing a vakul, a traditional raincoat made from local palm tree fibers worn by women native to Batanes.
“Little Creatures” is a group show featuring 47 artists as a follow-up to Art Underground’s first custom Bulul project “Little People” in 2015. Each artist begins with a blank Bulul that comes in two forms either posed seated with its arms crossed on its legs or posed with a basket as a sign of catching prosperity.
For the second edition of this project, Art Underground continues to showcase a motley of contemporary expression on the iconic Bulul. Each artist has refashioned their Bululs with a new persona turning the venerated figure into an apposite work of art. Look forward to seeing Bululs in the likeness of iconic people, animals, or creatures born from the artists’ imagination. Together the works of all 47 artists yield a menagerie of eclectic characters.
