regie

Deities of Innocence

polymer clay (2023)

Deities of Innocence are physical manifestations of gods and spirits that protect our inner child and our childhood desires.

I create toylike forms that resemble guardian spirit statues, like the pre-colonial anito statues of the Philippines and I imitate “bleeding” Catholic polychrome statues that I see growing up in the Philippines.

In this work I subvert Catholic iconography to make a light-hearted and childish criticism of how the ideas of desire, pleasure and happiness are twisted by the church to instill guilt and to control.