My paintings are made in sequences. In Sequence I, I explore an idea of distance drawn from Jon Fosse’s The Other Name: Septology I–II. I return to distance as something that separates, but also as something that can be felt as closeness. Working serially lets the paintings slowly accumulate meaning. I intend to continue into later sequences as the work develops, moving into the second and third installments of Fosse’s Septology.

Born in Manila in 1995, I studied architecture in Manila before studying computer science in San Francisco. I spent a lot of time at SFMOMA during that period. After hearing Tracey Emin speak in New York in 2023, I began thinking of becoming an artist. I now live and work in Los Angeles and New York. I often return to films and series concerned with interiority. Among them are Richard Linklater’s Before trilogy, Joachim Trier’s Oslo Trilogy, and My Brilliant Friend, adapted from Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan Novels.

I share an enthusiasm for American abstraction, and I approach it through a disciplined set of constraints. I paint with oil- and water-based house paint on canvas, using chalkboard erasers as my primary tool. The eraser makes revision central. It lets the image arrive through return, pressure, and restraint, rather than through a single gesture. The paintings hold a space where time remains and distance has a body.

Each painting begins with a color sourced from a specific work. I use that color as an entry point and extend it until a new image emerges. Titles keep a trace of that beginning. Each work bears its own inscription, recording sequence, date, and place. They do not ask to be read through their sources. They move beyond their sources toward revelation.