angel of god (sa mga panaginip ko)
Collage and Assemblage | Apprx 5’x5’
"angel of god (in my dreams)” is an almost life-sized assemblage installation where I reimagine the Catholic guardian angel figure as a more liberated protector inspired by pre-colonial Philippine aesthetics, 2000s pop culture, and social media archetypes. Growing up praying the Guardian Angel prayer, I always imagined my angel as someone watching over me and who accepted all of me. This project lets me rebuild that figure through my own cultural, spiritual, diasporic and queer perspective. The piece is composed of hand drawn and painted cutouts, human figures digitally illustrated, printed, and cut to shape. These images are draped with fabric from my late grandmother’s duster, a simple, house dress, often covered in colourful batik patterns, worn by Filipino women for daily chores. A painted canvas backdrop creates a tropical setting reminiscent of my motherland. Piece by piece, they form my version of an altar: an intimate and celebratory portal where my spirituality, cultural heritage, and queerness coexist without restraint and societal pressures.
angel of god (sa mga panaginip ko) at The Biyuti Project @ Textile Museum of Canada Photo Credit: Ivan Ceria
angel of god (sa mga panaginip ko) at The Biyuti Project @ Textile Museum of Canada Photo Credit: Ivan Ceria
esteemed maharlika: education (and
unapologetic self-expression) is the most
powerful weapon to change the world
2025, Fabric
My experience attending an enriched private school in the Philippines and later attending Catholic school in Canada pushed me to reimagine the school uniform through my personal lens. Not only have I created a uniform that uplifts the student academically, but I want to honour my cultural identity as a diasporic Filipino. I’ve been exposed to cultural hybridities my whole life through different cultural and colonial clothing: a red bolero cropped suit inspired by Spanish-era garments, and a pre-colonial malong skirt repurposed from a blanket my late grandmother sewed together from my older sister’s school kilts in the Philippines. This led to creating a “top-scholar” style uniform clashing with bold and maximalist elements. The loud and unapologetic appearance becomes an act of queer expression. My uniform takes up space in an academic Catholic environment where queerness and students of colour are often expected to conform, tone themselves down, or remain invisible. I added striped fabrics referencing traditional Philippine textiles as part of my own cultural excavation process. Being displaced from the Philippines, creating with limited resources becomes a way to reconnect, recover, and rebuild my heritage visually and materially despite obstacles.
esteemed maharlika at The Biyuti Project @ Textile Museum of Canada Photo Credit: Ivan Ceria