Ma Esmeralda Bautista

Raised in Pasay with two brothers, Esmeralda discovered her interest in art through her brother, taking painting lessons from Maestro Orobia in 2010. She would vaguely replicate a few of her brother’s worksheets but fail as she had no prior art education.

This interest bloomed into creating when she entered primary school a few years later. She was one of her school’s go-to contestants for on and off-campus art competitions.

She took up an art strand at the University of Santo Tomas, where she was educated properly. She received her bachelor's degree, majoring in painting, in 2022.

Her works revolve around subconscious and vivid ideas about the world and her mundane experiences while actively including visual commentaries about various societal and psychosocial struggles. Her bright-colored polychromatic works feature surrealistic elements that help to convey her message through symbolism and visual storytelling.

Throughout the years, she has explored various mediums, from oil pastels to acrylic paints. She has liked the fluidity and opacity of gouache and acrylic paints.

Esmeralda wishes to create art that speaks what she cannot articulate into words and to create art that consoles people and validates their hardships and experiences.

She takes heavy inspiration from Alfredo Esquillo, Tokwa Penaflorida, and Rodel Tapaya.

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