BAHANDI
Terracotta has a history dating back centuries in Philippine history. This humble material from the soil is slaked, sieved, wedged, aged, hand-built, dried, fired, painted and glazed into pottery made for the ordinary—such as water and food storage—and the momentous, like vessels carrying the dead. As the communities who made them evolved, these objects became lost in time and buried by it. As we reencounter them, we no longer interact with them practically. They have become remnants of our ancestors; evidence of their lives lived centuries before us. The ordinary transforms into the valuable by the virtue of remembering.
Like treasures from the past unearthed in the present, Bahandi contextualizes the current works of five Negrosanon ceramicists juxtaposed against the memory of their first contact with clay. Some explore themes consistent with their past. Catarata focuses on realistic portraiture, creating a series of busts and faces. Jumalon expands her series of practical and ornamental vessels, playing with size, color, and shape. Cataylo recreates an artificial reef on the ocean floor, with coral cages and remnants of fishing gear scattered across the room. Others expand the breadth of their experimentation. Quilnet adds levity to her dark and emotional repertoire by creating whimsical character heads, compelled by the childhood feeling of searching for a friendly face in a crowd. Duran pushes his exploration of relief carving with experimentations on carving and firing.
Although their bodies of work differ, commonalities among their journeys stand out: that the aspect of play is instrumental in the introduction of the medium to the artist and that the mastery is not borne out of a single turning point but a committed choice to improve the skill on engaging with the material. The tension between the artwork and the memory invites the audience to investigate the relationship between the two.
By Renz Torres
DYN QUILNET is a visual artist based in Dumaguete City, Philippines. She earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Foundation University. Her practice moves between sculpture and painting, often drawing from her personal experiences as a way to explore the depth of human emotions. In both mediums, the human figure plays a central role. By distorting and exaggerating its form, she creates works that feel like pages of a visual diary, each piece carrying its own meaning and story. Her paintings echo this same search for understanding, using color, texture, and atmosphere to capture vulnerability, memory and the quiet weight of human struggles. Through her art, Dyn’s reflects on the rawness of being human. Her works serve as subtle commentaries on the human condition, inviting viewers to confront beauty, pain, and the emotional truths that live beneath the surface.
JANA JUMALON is a visual artist from Dumaguete, Negros Oriental – whose explorations of the immediate environment and investigations of her innermost thoughts, realized through ceramics and painting –have time and time again demonstrated her unique expression and artistry. Hailing from a family of painters, the tradition is evident in her technical savvy on the canvas. Yet she proved that the creativity goes beyond that, and built her own ceramic practice around an innate curiosity and ingenuity. She discovered the immeasurable satisfaction in scouring the land for workable clay, which she researches and experiments on to formulate her own clay body and glazes, which in turn aid her in maximizing the forms that she creates. Her dedication to clay is further underscored by her unwavering support for the ceramic communities and towns that she visits and learns from.
Jumalon’s recent exhibitions include solo presentations at the National Museum of the Philippines-Dumaguete (Huni sa Tubig, 2024) and at Viva Excon Antique (Lutaw, 2023), as well as group exhibitions at Orange Project, Bacolod (Traversing Grounds, 2023), Vinyl on Vinyl Gallery, Makati (Resonance, 2024), Qube Gallery, Cebu (Ballad of the Watcher, 2024), and The Henry Gallery, Dumaguete (ATOA 3: Dagat, 2025). Her solo exhibition Tierra Quemada was the inaugural show of Mugna Gallery in 2022.
JERRY CATARATA is a multidisciplinary artist who began sculpting at the age of eight. Over the years, his creative practice grew into different forms of art including sketching, painting, music composition, and theater.
For his visual works, he uses the name NINO TORES. His work is shaped by personal experiences, observation, and a constant interest in exploring different ways of creating and expressing ideas. During the pandemic, he found his way back to art with a renewed sense of purpose, leading him to continue developing his practice across both visual and performing arts.
MIKOO CATAYLO is an emerging ceramic artist based in Dumaguete City, Philippines. He began working with terracotta at an early age and his aptitude for the material saw him participate in his first exhibition at the age of 12. In recent years, he has exhibited extensively in his hometown of Dumaguete, as well as more widely in the Philippines.
In addition to his own art practice, Cataylo actively assists, mentors, and teaches hand-building techniques in terracotta — making him a pillar in the community of local artists. Cataylo’s ceramic installations are inspired by his everyday island life and surrounding natural environment, particularly the coral reefs that populate the region’s coastal waters. His works explore the intersection of human and aquatic life, reflecting his deep connection to and concern for his environment. Cataylo’s sculptures and installations are made from local terracotta that he sources and processes himself, a material that extends his conceptual concerns and connection to place.
HEMROD DURAN is a full-time sculptor based in Dumaguete specializing in terracotta and in the techniques of hand-building, wheel throwing and open firing. He hails from a family of potters from Daro, receiving early training from his father and growing up in the brick-business his grandfather built. His knowledge in pottery-making and clay extraction was developed working with Japanese volunteers invited by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) in 2007. Duran is a constant resource person for community workshops of local government units. He is an exhibiting artist since 2003, holding group shows in Negros Island and Manila and his first solo show in 2022.
BAHANDI
Terracotta has a history dating back centuries in Philippine history. This humble material from the soil is slaked, sieved, wedged, aged, hand-built, dried, fired, painted and glazed into pottery made for the ordinary—such as water and food storage—and the momentous, like vessels carrying the dead. As the communities who made them evolved, these objects became lost in time and buried by it. As we reencounter them, we no longer interact with them practically. They have become remnants of our ancestors; evidence of their lives lived centuries before us. The ordinary transforms into the valuable by the virtue of remembering.
Like treasures from the past unearthed in the present, Bahandi contextualizes the current works of five Negrosanon ceramicists juxtaposed against the memory of their first contact with clay. Some explore themes consistent with their past. Catarata focuses on realistic portraiture, creating a series of busts and faces. Jumalon expands her series of practical and ornamental vessels, playing with size, color, and shape. Cataylo recreates an artificial reef on the ocean floor, with coral cages and remnants of fishing gear scattered across the room. Others expand the breadth of their experimentation. Quilnet adds levity to her dark and emotional repertoire by creating whimsical character heads, compelled by the childhood feeling of searching for a friendly face in a crowd. Duran pushes his exploration of relief carving with experimentations on carving and firing.
Although their bodies of work differ, commonalities among their journeys stand out: that the aspect of play is instrumental in the introduction of the medium to the artist and that the mastery is not borne out of a single turning point but a committed choice to improve the skill on engaging with the material. The tension between the artwork and the memory invites the audience to investigate the relationship between the two.
By Renz Torres
DYN QUILNET is a visual artist based in Dumaguete City, Philippines. She earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Foundation University. Her practice moves between sculpture and painting, often drawing from her personal experiences as a way to explore the depth of human emotions. In both mediums, the human figure plays a central role. By distorting and exaggerating its form, she creates works that feel like pages of a visual diary, each piece carrying its own meaning and story. Her paintings echo this same search for understanding, using color, texture, and atmosphere to capture vulnerability, memory and the quiet weight of human struggles. Through her art, Dyn’s reflects on the rawness of being human. Her works serve as subtle commentaries on the human condition, inviting viewers to confront beauty, pain, and the emotional truths that live beneath the surface.
JANA JUMALON is a visual artist from Dumaguete, Negros Oriental – whose explorations of the immediate environment and investigations of her innermost thoughts, realized through ceramics and painting –have time and time again demonstrated her unique expression and artistry. Hailing from a family of painters, the tradition is evident in her technical savvy on the canvas. Yet she proved that the creativity goes beyond that, and built her own ceramic practice around an innate curiosity and ingenuity. She discovered the immeasurable satisfaction in scouring the land for workable clay, which she researches and experiments on to formulate her own clay body and glazes, which in turn aid her in maximizing the forms that she creates. Her dedication to clay is further underscored by her unwavering support for the ceramic communities and towns that she visits and learns from.
Jumalon’s recent exhibitions include solo presentations at the National Museum of the Philippines-Dumaguete (Huni sa Tubig, 2024) and at Viva Excon Antique (Lutaw, 2023), as well as group exhibitions at Orange Project, Bacolod (Traversing Grounds, 2023), Vinyl on Vinyl Gallery, Makati (Resonance, 2024), Qube Gallery, Cebu (Ballad of the Watcher, 2024), and The Henry Gallery, Dumaguete (ATOA 3: Dagat, 2025). Her solo exhibition Tierra Quemada was the inaugural show of Mugna Gallery in 2022.
JERRY CATARATA is a multidisciplinary artist who began sculpting at the age of eight. Over the years, his creative practice grew into different forms of art including sketching, painting, music composition, and theater.
For his visual works, he uses the name NINO TORES. His work is shaped by personal experiences, observation, and a constant interest in exploring different ways of creating and expressing ideas. During the pandemic, he found his way back to art with a renewed sense of purpose, leading him to continue developing his practice across both visual and performing arts.
MIKOO CATAYLO is an emerging ceramic artist based in Dumaguete City, Philippines. He began working with terracotta at an early age and his aptitude for the material saw him participate in his first exhibition at the age of 12. In recent years, he has exhibited extensively in his hometown of Dumaguete, as well as more widely in the Philippines.
In addition to his own art practice, Cataylo actively assists, mentors, and teaches hand-building techniques in terracotta — making him a pillar in the community of local artists. Cataylo’s ceramic installations are inspired by his everyday island life and surrounding natural environment, particularly the coral reefs that populate the region’s coastal waters. His works explore the intersection of human and aquatic life, reflecting his deep connection to and concern for his environment. Cataylo’s sculptures and installations are made from local terracotta that he sources and processes himself, a material that extends his conceptual concerns and connection to place.
HEMROD DURAN is a full-time sculptor based in Dumaguete specializing in terracotta and in the techniques of hand-building, wheel throwing and open firing. He hails from a family of potters from Daro, receiving early training from his father and growing up in the brick-business his grandfather built. His knowledge in pottery-making and clay extraction was developed working with Japanese volunteers invited by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) in 2007. Duran is a constant resource person for community workshops of local government units. He is an exhibiting artist since 2003, holding group shows in Negros Island and Manila and his first solo show in 2022.
