We hear people say that while the children are still young, let them play. That wasn’t the case for Ianna Engaño. At an early age, when she was too small to even lift a bag of goods, she struggled to fend for herself. Just like a caterpillar, she crawled to survive; she built a hard cocoon to protect her younger self from the horrors of this world until she blossomed into this butterfly that she had always dreamed to be.

The path to becoming an artist and, most importantly, a good person was a bumpy road for Ianna. The emotional, physical, and mental pressure that she had since she was a child until she became a young adult took a toll on her well-being. Fortunately, Ianna recently changed the way she looked at all these bad experiences. She began to think that those trials offered lessons that she wouldn’t have realized if life didn’t throw a full basket of lemons at her. The acquired knowledge and the motivation to push beyond her potential were, at least, the good things that all those unimaginable hardships gave her.

Photo by: Michael Angelo Sison 

Photos by: Michael Angelo Sison 
Bahay-uod is currently at Eskinita Art Farm, Tanauan City, Batangas

The artwork made out of stoneware clay tells one of Ianna’s stories of metamorphosis. The ceramic piece is a baby wrapped in a self-made cocoon that works as a shield against potential danger while lifting a closed fist, making her look like she is ready for a big battle – the survival of the fittest. On the right side of her head, a good morning towel can be seen. This is a cloth that most labor workers use to wipe off every drop of their sweat and this adds to the concept of child labor. On the left side of the baby’s head is an enormous brain with a message written in baybayin. If you can decode the baybayin letters on this ceramic sculpture, you will understand Ianna’s advice for the new and the older generations after she won over years of traumatic combat.

This article was written by Lin Bajala, a technical writer, creative writer, amateur poet, and singer-songwriter who promised to always serve Odangputik, the Putik Studio, and the art community.

Odangputik Pottery Studio