IKAW ANG ARAW

Ikaw ang Araw is an ongoing research project documented as a three-part 3D animation, dedicated to the rediscovery and revival of indigenous Filipino cosmologies. Rooted in both personal memory and cultural inquiry, the work takes its name from a phrase passed down by the artist’s late grandmother—“you are the sun”—serving as both invocation and conceptual anchor. Moving between archival sensibility and speculative reconstruction, the project uses 3D simulation to re-engage pre-colonial understandings of light, divinity, and relational identity, unfolding as a living system of study rather than a fixed narrative. Ikaw ang Araw was presented as a thesis installation in the Spring Undergraduate Exhibition at School of the Art Institute of Chicago Galleries, following selection as one of six artists through a juried process, and was later featured in F Newsmagazine for its exploration of cultural heritage through new media.