I painted both of these pieces (Pluviam and Desideratium) in 2020 in the middle of the pandemic when Manila was strictly locked down. Like many people, the lockdown was a time of great transition for me. Suddenly, everything going on in my busy life slowed down and for the first time, I was able to be still and contemplate the huge changes that were going on. This is reflected in my paintings. I usually use bright colors but the pieces are very muted. I see a lot of myself in the paintings, which is why my subjects are usually women.

In this crazy time, painting is therapeutic for me. None of us can control much during this pandemic and painting provides me with something I can just go for and put my heart into. Creating this piece was like traveling through time - I would immerse myself in creating these little worlds and not even notice that the day had passed. I feel that these pieces immortalize what I felt during the lockdowns. Hopefully, we never have to go through anything like them again, but I’d like viewers of the painting to know what was in my heart at this time.

I’m so proud of this remix, which I worked on with Luis Buenaventura (Cryptopop), one of the world's first NFT artists, and Rodel Colmenar, composer of the Manila Philharmonic. Together, I think we created a piece that truly immortalizes the transitions, stillness, and emotions we experienced as last year’s craziness put our lives to a halt.