This exhibition assembles my array of works that portray my struggles as an artist, a wife, and a mother altogether. It’s often said that being married to an artist is a challenge in itself, but being the wife of a successful artist added layers of complexity I wasn’t prepared for. People expected me to be perfect—beautiful, poised, and, above all, an artist on par with my husband. I was constantly being pinned down by these expectations, suffocating under the weight of an ideal that I was striving so hard to meet. I always felt like a shadow, swimming in a void of idenitity loss. I was trapped in an image that society imposes or expects from certain people, and somehow, I think that it wasn’t really the people judging me. It’s simply me reprimanding myself for all the unrealistic things that I demand from my own self. I was overly anxious about my own body and felt that I was always out of place. I often see my life in close parallels with Frida Kahlo, the wife of the legendary painter Diego Rivera. Frida’s very existence was marred by pain, yet she created masterpieces that stood on their own, independent of Rivera’s shadow. I longed to do the same, but the pressure felt like a self-imposed burden. I found myself locking away all my trauma, insecurities, and negative thoughts in an untouched space deep inside my mind—a Pandora’s box of my making. I fought my struggles internally while outwardly maintaining the image of the perfect artist-wife. And then, one night, everything changed. It was a nightmarish event, a night that felt like an eternity, but once it ended, I was able to confront and conquer my inner demons and emerge as a stronger and more confident person. It was a trial for my own resilience, and the old world ended as a new one was born to replace it. I came into a spiritual awakening, and I suddenly saw the world through the eyes of an enlightened, individualistic survivor. After conquering what seemed like the worst night of my life, I felt like I could take on anything. That boost in my reborn self-confidence set off a chain reaction towards all my past insecurities and uncertainties, and the box where I used to store them was no longer needed. I suddenly had the confidence to face all my fears and the parts of myself that I had avoided for a long time. Instead of running away from it, I embraced it and became one with it. I became whole and have become the master of my own emotions. This led to a paradise where everything was calm and clear. I was free from the monsters that the old world and I had created. It was a paradise, yes, but my heart is always ready, because if a world could be reborn, so could the monsters that once lived in it.

– Iya Barrioquinto