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.

bathala

Bathala

Decolonial Minimalism Founding Work - Filipino Deities

Size: 1400 x 1400 pixels

Medium: Digital Art

Artist: IJWBAA

Year: 2025

Description:

The Bathala artwork presents a compelling vision of indigenous Filipino spirituality through a modern minimalist lens. It distills the essence of Bathala—supreme deity in Tagalog mythology—into a refined, geometric composition, emphasizing form over embellishment. This abstraction removes colonial artistic influences, reclaiming pre-colonial storytelling in a contemporary visual language.

Bathala, as the creator and ruler of the universe, embodies themes of cosmic balance and divine authority. Before Spanish colonization, indigenous Filipinos revered Bathala as the highest force governing existence, shaping their connection to nature and the unseen world. However, colonial rule imposed foreign religious structures, overshadowing native cosmologies and redefining spirituality through an external lens.

Through bold simplification and deliberate abstraction, the artwork resists these imposed narratives, restoring Bathala’s presence in Filipino identity. The careful interplay of shapes and negative space shifts the focus from grand depictions to introspective interpretation, allowing the viewer to engage with ancestral wisdom on their own terms. This piece stands as an assertion of cultural autonomy, ensuring indigenous spirituality remains alive and relevant in contemporary artistic discourse.

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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.

Filipino Deities VR Exhibit, OncyberIO, June 1-31, 2025. https://oncyber.io/filipino-deities.