Faye Abantao: Rooted in the Regions, Flourishing in Every Season
Words Marz Aglipay
Photos Finale Art File, Ysobel Art Gallery and Butanding Barrio
May 8, 2025
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This is an excerpt from Art+ Magazine March-April 2025 issue
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Home Is A Feeling, 2025, Digital collage, image transfer on folded paper, paper on canvas 24 x 36 inches
From “To Conquer A Home” at Finale Art File
Fresh off two solo shows in Manila—To Conquer A Home at Finale Art File and Everyone Carries a Shadow at Ysobel Gallery—Faye Abantao is a Bacolod-based artist actively exhibiting in both Bacolod and Metro Manila. With a strong track record of residencies and exhibitions, she has established herself as a committed visual artist.
Abantao did not initially envision a career in the arts. She pursued a more practical path by studying advertising, intending to work in an ad agency after graduation.
Faye Abantao at her exhibit
Her studio practice developed gradually during her fourth year at La Consolacion College–Bacolod. “When I was in college, art wasn’t my calling—my relationship with it was more casual. I enjoyed photography," she shares.
Interwoven , 2021, Digital Collage image transfer on paper weave 8x8 ft
Faye Abantao’s work from her Butanding Bario residency
In the company of her schoolmates such as Erika Mayo, Megumi Miura, Red Mesias, Matt Yrad, and Ginoe Ojoy, all of whom were painters. At that time, she wasn’t as serious about art as they were. “As the deadline neared, I felt pressured because everyone else was painting. Photography and origami were what I knew—then my own style emerged.” This became her first group exhibit, My Own Lisa, where each artist created their own interpretation of the Mona Lisa. The show was one of the concurrent exhibitions during VIVA ExCon 2014 in Bacolod, a pivotal platform that gathered artists from the Visayas and the larger international art community.
Faye Abantao, Weight of Absence, 2025, Digital collage, image transfer on folded paper, paper on canvas 18 x 24 inches
From “To Conquer A Home” at Finale Art File
From that point on, Abantao remained active in Bacolod’s art scene, frequently exhibiting in spaces like House of Frida—an art venue above a café that welcomed young artists. The following year, she was invited by a fellow artist who noticed her work, Tristram Miravalles, to participate in Untamed Territories, a group show with the challenge of creating a large-scale piece measuring 5 by 6 feet. “I remember thinking, Wait lang, kaya ko ba?” she recalls.
Through this exhibition, she was introduced to Carmel Hibaler, then gallery manager of Orange Gallery, and to other prominent Bacolod artists. This experience marked a crucial step in solidifying her presence as a dedicated visual artist.
