Looking back: A Compilation of Ianna Engaño’s Works for Xavier Art Festival 2022

Engaño’s works as part of the three-woman show, Caution Handle With Care, for the Xavier Art Festival 2022 under Eskinita Art Farm

**Self-portrait** | **Artist Statement:** Mirrors and cameras show our reflections and images whilst this ceramic piece reflects the artist’s past. With a life filled with nothing but scarcity, Ianna used to be sickly and severely malnourished as a student while working multiple part-time jobs to secure necessities. The love for herself was frequently neglected and unrequited.
Although some parts of the past may not be buried in soil, the past can still be molded into a piece of timeless stoneware. Then, it will only stay as a memory, an inspiration to thrive and change for the better, but it will never drag down whatever is celebrated in the present time. For today, Ianna promises a wealth of love and reverence for herself.

**Title**: Bahay-uod | **Medium:** Stoneware | **Size:** 16 x 9 x 5 inches

**Bahay-uod** | **Artist Statement:** Fragile body but muscles are stiff. The mind seems to be a blank slate but it’s filled with lessons. Young but carries the responsibilities of an adult. This happens to a human being who was exposed to forced labor at an early age – carrying the weight of the whole family. She is like a caterpillar that needs to crawl to survive until it builds, on its own, the walls that will protect it from harm. Fast forward to the future, that cocoon will give birth to a new being where it won’t have to crawl for the rest of its life; it will fly high and spread abundant pollens of kindness and wisdom into barren land.

**Bao sa Kawalan | Artist Statement:** The ocean, likened to nothingness and the unknown, can be a trap for creatures dwelling in it. When a small object is thrown into the ocean, ripples multiply and go the distance until the object damages a sea dweller’s body, causing it to die.
But we can still be in control of the ripple effect in the vast ocean that we call life. We may not alter the direction of the ripples but we can still do something to stop its continuum; we can only change what we can change in this life where not all things are pre-determined.

**Title**: Kaliskis Ko’y ‘Di Nakakahawa | **Medium:** Stoneware | **Size:** 19 x 11 x 4 inches

**Kaliskis Ko’y ‘Di Nakakahawa | Artist Statement:** A basket filled with five fresh apples and one rotten apple will make the rest of the apples rot. A grandmother told someone’s mother, a father said this to a teacher, a sister said this to a brother, and they all believed in it. And when the sanctimonious people said that a homosexual is a decayed apple in a basket filled with good apples, they believed.
Nevertheless, this artwork still believes that homosexuality is not a disease – it is not contagious nor ought to be medicated. It can only be accepted with all of your heart once perspective changes. Look at the endless rainbow, this is how gender is seen as a wide and beautiful spectrum.

**All photos on this page were captured by Michael Angelo Sison**

Written by Lin Bajala

Odangputik Pottery Studio

Written by Lin Bajala

Lin Bajala, raised in South Cotabato, is a poet with literary works in Filipino and Hiligaynon. Her poems metaphorically describe the pain of losing, longing, and hoping.

She is also the curator for the core programs of Odangputik Art Space which are mainly designed for the progress of Philippine contemporary ceramics. Her practice often integrates decentralized structures and interdisciplinary concepts.

She took Master in Business Management Major in Finance in Mindanao State University and she is currently studying Art Studies in the University of the Philippines Diliman.

Above all things, Lin would prefer to introduce herself as a crazy cat lady.

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