The instinct and drive to create is innate to human beings. By the 21st century, a wide array of art making, techniques, and schools of thought have been brought to the forefront all over the world,and yet there is still so much more that remains hidden right in front of us.

Three artists with three distinct practices intersect in this maiden presentation of Mugna Gallery at the Visayas Art Fair. Selected independently based on their potential and relevance towards pushing the artistic community in Dumaguete to the forefront, Jana Jumalon, Rey Labarento, and Babbu Wenceslao bring their own colors to Mugna-on, a celebration of creativity and creation from the island of Negros.

Despite seemingly worlds apart in preferred medium and techniques, these three artists resonate in these works they have produced.

As many of their local colleagues – as well as counterparts in Manila – turn to Western imagery and appropriation, Jumalon, Labarento and Wenceslao have deliberately prioritized the countenances of their townsfolk. They center on the brown-skinned Filipino and all of their ups and downs, trials and tribulations, and translate these into art that not only instills a deeper relatability with their fellow countrymen, but also continues artistic tradition that can only be conceptualized and produced through harmony and synergy with their immediate environment.This is in contemporary terms a “love language” that brings to mind Jose Rizal’s musings: “Ang hindi magmahal sa sariling wika, daig pa ang hayop at malansang isda.

In all of their works, there is a code hidden in plain sight.

Although not planned, it is quite the serendipitous coincidence that makes one wonder about the ties that bind them more than simply being chosen to be in one exhibition. Jumalon’s towers bear what seem to be random letters – whether they spell something out is an enigma she teases the viewer with. More randomness appears in Wenceslao’s works in the form of repeating numbers.

To the untrained eye and mind, these coordinates that situate the pieces within their social fabric by linking them all to the location of his studio and the center of his artistic practice, remain as seemingly random and irrational numbers. Back to random letters, Labarento employs a simple device: spelling backwards; yet it pushes for a strangely delightful effort to understand what is a simple goodnight.