About the Exhibit –

 

For almost a decade, I have developed and performed BOHOVEE within my studio in Binondo, Manila—a space I refer to as the “6H temple of magick.” This studio functions as both a living environment and a performative site where identity, ritual, and artistic production continuously overlap.

​

Within this space, I work through BOHOVEE as an evolving persona. Dressing, performing, and documenting myself becomes part of a daily practice of transformation—often using costumes found in local second-hand markets (ukay-ukay), as well as video recordings that document shifts in gesture, presence, and embodiment. Through this process, BOHOVEE becomes a method of self-observation, confidence, and performative becoming.

​

The studio also functions as the origin point of The Muses of Bohovee, a long-term project in which I encounter and collaborate with male muses—often workers and individuals from public urban spaces such as Divisoria and Binondo in Manila. These encounters are translated into photographic sessions and drawings, where the body becomes both subject and image. The resulting works form a growing archive of portraits, sketches, and photographs displayed within the studio space.

​

Over time, the accumulation of images, objects, and costumes has transformed the 6H studio into a dense installation-like environment. Photographs, drawings, textiles, and personal objects function as an interior archive—what I understand as a shrine of BOHOVEE. Within this structure, intimacy, desire, and representation are continuously rehearsed and reconfigured.

​

The exhibition BOHOVEE IS ALIVE @ 6H_BedroomShrine translates this studio environment into the gallery space. The title references social media formats as a way of questioning how identity, performance, and self-mythology circulate between physical and digital spaces. It reflects on how the everyday can be transformed into an authored, performative persona.

The installation includes large printed photographs, personal objects, costumes, pastel drawings, textile works, and performative video works. These elements operate as interconnected “portals” into the world of BOHOVEE, each tracing different stages of performance, encounter, and documentation across local and international contexts.

​

Ultimately, the exhibition presents the studio not only as a physical space, but as an ongoing system of performance, ritual, and image-making—a continuous construction of BOHOVEE as both persona and artistic method.