Anotherworld
Cultural Center of the Philippines [2017]
I wanted to draw an autobiographical map of my present ontology—of who I was and who I have become, of home, homeland, and homeworld, how these three have changed; the graves and gardens that have grown, the ghosts and ruins that haunt them, the void that awaits self and other—all these with everything that is alive and new with all that is about to disappear, dissolve, and discontinue.
Planet Blue
Yokohama Triennale [2020]
Presented at the Yokohama Triennale, PLANET BLUE is the culmination of the two year manifestation of the alter ego Russ Hour—a livestream host inside the world's largest gay social media app Blued. The work features an archive of Russ Hour's daily livestream appearances from 2018-2020. From banal moments to strange apparitions of an alien creature, the videos chronicle his interactions with his 150,000++ queer followers across the globe. A live installation mirrors the video archive and details the unfiltered living experience of the charismatic livestream host. His intimate artifacts, sensitive accoutrements, and confessional documents populate a residence of a darker lonelier less flattering personage. [Watch the epilogue here.]
In The Belly Of The Beast
De Leon Residence [2020]
An offering to the sublime powers of nature and the cosmos, In the Belly Of The Beast retells the Biblical myth of Jonah and the Whale during the coronavirus pandemic. With only a handful of sharpies, used lumber, and various discarded materials found in his lockdown sanctuary, the artist creates a sacred space of supplication and protection, a temple-altar to things revered—old and new, ancient and modern, past and present. In the intimacy of home, he invokes the power of art to bring comfort and wonder to an apocalyptic time.
My Skull is My Cathedral
El Amigo Art Space [2022]
In this ritual of unconditional allowing of all the contradicting elements within my psyche, I labored to fashion icons that revered flesh and spirit, light and dark, life and death. With the truth of my naked humanity, I survey my inner landscapes. I dream of my inner architecture. I visualize the seasons, biomes, and ecologies of my cosmic mandala. I weave back my carnal body into the ether of the spiritual. I scale the peaks of my ecstasy and dive the depths of my dissolution. I pay respects to my entrances and exits, my victories and failures, my love and my anger. I attend the orgies and funerals of my selves. I grieve and celebrate the mystery of my being.
