A Visit Home (Mount Mayon Wallpaper)

This artwork is a simulacrum of the artist's childhood home materializing over a picturesque neighborhood under the shadow of the recently-erupted Mayon volcano. Referencing bayanihan tradition, UFO lore, and his past works, Winner Jumalon evokes disconnection and exploration in the same breath. The house is portrayed as a shell: a hollow spaceship with flat planes conveying the illusion of home life. The staging ground for this floating tableau is sparse countryland, and the rest of the work relies on Jumalon's excellent brushwork and close-up details to communicate the sensation of isolation, through the subdued base color choices, lack of figuration, and dark chasms of windows in empty dwelling-places. Yet this artwork is not meant to be melancholic in tone, but rather about the artist's attempt to create a sense of settlement. Equipped with oddly fitted parts, the work cannot help but be enlivened by its playful vocabulary. The motifs include visual references that recall fantastic journeys, coalescing into an exotic, eccentric vision.