IJWBAA [eej-wah] is a Filipino digital artist and the first Filipino recognized in Techspressionism. He is a neologist and the originator of Decolonial Minimalism —an art movement that reclaims minimalism through ancestral memory and cultural reawakening. His work earned a spot on the shortlist for the Hiiibrand Design and Illustration Awards 2024. His papers were published on Academia.edu.He was selected by David Quiles Guilló, Director of The Wrong, to participate in the 7th Edition of The Wrong Biennale - described by The New York Times as the digital world's answer to Venice Biennale - with Prayers to Ai, further cementing his standing in the international digital art community. His collected 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. The two volumes are cataloged in WorldCat under OCLC Numbers 1530632939(Book 1) and 1530636063(Book 2).

To My Dearest Friend

a short note by IJWBAA | Dec 31, 2025

"To my dearest friend, who left this world in February 2025: this year is for you. If, someday, you are reincarnated as a human being, I hope you carry with you a deep love for the arts and find your way back to me--not in flesh, but in the pages of my books, housed in the world's most prestigious museums and libraries. And there, I hope you remember who we were to each other." - pao/ijwbaa

SO, WHAT'S NEXT?

Hi, I'm Pao aka IJWBAA. I'm a digital artist, painter, and a book author from the Philippines. If you enjoyed reading this you might like to read also:

• The Digital Artist Digest

• Poems by IJWBAA

• Quotes from a Wannabe Artist

• Notes to Self

I would greatly appreciate if you could kindly share this to people whom you know will be interested to read this through social media, email, text, or message.

Thank you.