IJWBAA [eej-wah] is a Filipino digital artist and the first Filipino recognized in the Techspressionism movement. He is a neologist and the originator of Decolonial Minimalism—an art movement that reclaims minimalism through ancestral memory and cultural reawakening. His works, compiled in two volumes of I Just Wannabe an Artist, have been recognized, officially archived, cataloged, and made available in the collections of the Gallerie degli Uffizi, Museo Reina Sofía, the National Museum of the Philippines, Getty Research Institute, and other prominent cultural institutions worldwide.

Alamat ng Pinya artwork

Alamat ng Pinya

Decolonial Minimalism Founding Work - Filipino Legends

Size: 1400 x 1400 pixels

Medium: Digital Art

Artist: IJWBAA

Year: 2025

Description:

“Paningin” artwork reinterprets the Alamat ng Pinya through a rhythmic pattern of hexagons and stars, evoking the pineapple’s textured skin and the legend’s central motif—vision. The repeating forms suggest both the fruit’s surface and the many eyes that emerged from a mother’s wish, transforming a tale of frustration into one of remembrance and growth.

In the original folklore, a girl named Pinang, often too lazy to look for things herself, is cursed—then transformed—by her mother’s exasperated wish: “Sana’y magkaroon ka ng maraming mata.” Days later, a strange plant appears, bearing fruit shaped like a head, covered in eyes. Thus, the pineapple was born—not just as a fruit, but as a symbol of consequence, care, and the power of words.

This visual abstraction resists literal storytelling, instead channeling the emotional undercurrents of the myth. The artwork’s symmetry and repetition mirror the cyclical nature of memory and the way stories are passed down—layered, reshaped, but never forgotten. It reclaims the tale from moralistic overtones and reframes it as a meditation on attention, transformation, and the quiet magic of everyday life.

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Publication:

IJWBAA. Decolonial Minimalism. Photobook, mm/dd/yyyy, p. #. - coming soon

Exhibitions:

IJWBAA. Filipino Folklore and Identity: What Makes a Filipino? The Wrong Biennale – 7th Edition, Open Pavilion, 1 Nov. 2025 – 31 Mar. 2026, LinkedIn, https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/ijwbaa-eej-wah.