9 Pinoy artists put the spotlight on the Filipino diaspora experience in LAKBAY 2026 exhibit
The curious thing about art is that 10 people can look at the same piece of work, but no two insights about it would be the same.
When Art House launches the second iteration of its LAKBAY series—LAKBAY: Through Visual Poetries with Christina Quisumbing Ramilo—on Jan. 30 with over 100 artworks by nine Filipino artists, trust that there will be numerous expressions of understanding about the art and, more importantly, about the self.
Serving as the anchor are Christina "Ling" Quisumbing Ramilo's introspective, witty pieces that span decades. The other eight artists, who hail from different parts of the globe, created works that respond to Ramilo's.
"All their styles are different. But that's exactly the point. It serves as a metaphor for the range of Ling's works," Marika Constantino, curator of the exhibition, told PhilSTAR L!fe.
"She ranges from figurative drawings to installations, construction, furniture. But the core value of Ling's works always emanates from something true; something from her own life," Constantino added.
Get to know the nine artists of LAKBAY: Through Visual Poetries with Christina Quisumbing Ramilo below.
Christina "Ling" Quisumbing Ramilo
Just like the human psyche, Ramilo's witty and sustainable works cover many different emotions, all of which direct her art.
"I call them 'hugot' works because they're essentially about yours and my experiences about loss, aging, youth, being in love, not being in love," Ramilo told L!fe. "I think that's why people can get something out of [my] works even if they're unorthodox and unconventional."
She is an assemblage artist who was based in New York for 23 years, but is now based in Manila as a full-time artist.
A tip: look, in particular, for her piece entitled "Mukhang Pera". Created in 2010, its tongue-in-cheek humor still rings true today.
Angela Silva
Born in Iloilo City, Angela Silva is a mixed-media artist and printmaker who previously taught workshops on image transfers and portrait collage in the San Francisco Bay Area. She is also a cyanotype artist whose style involves using camera-less photography that produces monochromatic blue images.
Silva has exhibited in printmaking group shows since 2018. Her studio, Rolling Paper Press, has organized several printmaking events, as well.
She is based in Talisay, Negros Occidental.
Joseph Gabriel
Joseph Gabriel's works focus on the transformative properties of materials. An artist based in London, Gabriel creates pieces that examine how different materials react under certain conditions. The materials he works with are inherently fragile and visually delicate. When he is finished with a piece, it usually shows the interplay of nature and human intervention.
Gabriel holds a fine arts degree in painting from the University of the Philippines Diliman. He then moved to London to complete a master's degree in ceramics and glass from the Royal College of Art under an RCA Innovation Scholarship.
Katrina Bello
Visual artist Katrina Bello's works center around her reflections, observations, and experiences of natural environments she encountered as she immigrated to the US. She has held solo exhibitions and participated in group shows in both the US and the Philippines. Bello has also received fellowships and residencies in the US. She completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts in studio art at the Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University in New Brunswick, and collected a master's in studio art, as well, from the Maryland Institute of College of Art.
Bello lives in New Jersey and Nevada.
Kim Cruz
An artist from Manila, Kim Cruz also runs Kalma Art Foundation, a non-profit organization that advocates for education and art. She works closely with orphanages and other foundations to provide art therapy for children and women who are victims of trafficking.
At 23, Cruz held her first sold-out exhibition featuring pieces focusing on the female figure. Two years later, she held her first international exhibit in Tokyo at the Tokyo Tower Art Fair. Cruz has also exhibited her work in Barcelona. Currently, she is experimenting with Sumi ink, evoking the early monochromatic ink pieces of esteemed artist Nena Saguil.
Kulay Labitigan
London-based Kulay Labitigan calls himself a creative talesmith. His multidisciplinary art practice revolves around his insights on evolving human identity, humans' sense of belonging, and the concept of home. Labitigan's pieces are vibrant and playful displays of his curiosity about fictional worlds that weave in and out of the actual world he lives in.
Born and raised in Tayabas, Quezon, Labitigan has a fine arts degree from UP Diliman, specializing in applied storytelling, and a master's degree from the University of the Arts London–Central Saint Martins.
The pieces he works on today are kaleidoscopic visual pieces that narrate both his rural sunny childhood in Quezon and his modern world as a gay Southeast Asian man in the UK.
Mark Barretto
Based in Dubai, Mark Barretto is known for combining street art, design, and fine art. In the early 2000s, he was a key figure in the Philippine street art scene, where he developed his signature style of geometric forms, expressive characters with diamond-shaped eyes, and iconic imagery. He draws inspiration from urban environments and the complexities of migrant life.
Barretto has mounted exhibitions across Asia, Europe, North America, and the Middle East, where he created an eight-story mural. His work has been featured in TIME Magazine, The Financial Times, as well as international art publications. Along with his murals and street art, Barretto also creates prints, collectible figures, and streetwear, for which he collaborates with global brands, such as Adidas.
Pinky Ibarra Urmaza
Born in Manila, Pinky Urmaza is a mixed media artist based in New York, where she moved in 2000. She is drawn to working with objects that have history—vintage books, old toy parts, and other interesting finds in flea markets.
Urmaza creates collages inspired by childhood memories rich with images of ancestral houses, family heirlooms, dusty photographs of strangers, and stained pages of books. She takes these and manipulates them by burning corners, tearing pages, painting over them, and creating indelible marks. Through her work, Urmaza likes to breathe new life into the forgotten.
She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from De La Salle University and attended workshops at the MOWELFUND Film Institute.
Racso Jugarap
The youngest son of a jewelry designer, Filipino-Belgian wire artist Racso Jugarap grew up experimenting with the tools in his father's workshop. Even before he established his career as a professional artist, he had completed commissioned design pieces for hotels and business establishments.
In 2024, Jugarap became a finalist for the Loewe Foundation Craft Prize, an annual international award that celebrates excellence and artistic merit in modern art.
He did his first solo exhibition in 2016 in Brussels, Belgium. Practically every year since 2019, Jugarap has had solo shows in Belgium and France.
LAKBAY 2026: Through Visual Poetries with Christina Quisumbing Romilo is happening from Jan. 30 to Feb. 1 at the Mezzanine of Discovery Primea. There will be various workshops with the artists throughout the exhibit. Check Art House on social media for more details.
