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).

upi-an

upi-an

Decolonial Minimalism Founding Work - Culture (Symbols)

Size: 1400 x 1400 pixels

Medium: Digital Art

Artist: IJWBAA

Year: 2025

Description:

Upi-an / Upigan (Pouch Edition) by IJWBAA reimagines the woven pouch as a chromatic archive of containment and care. Traditionally crafted from rattan, bamboo, or abaca, the upigan serves as a vessel for carrying essentials—coins, betel nut, or small keepsakes. In this abstraction, the lattice-like diamond patterns evoke the weave’s tight interlocking, while the central band suggests the pouch’s body: a sanctuary for memory, labor, and everyday survival.

The pouch is more than utility—it is intimacy. IJWBAA’s minimalist rendering reframes the upigan as mnemonic infrastructure, where each diamond motif becomes a stitch of inheritance. The reddish-brown palette recalls earth and fiber, grounding the pouch in ecological intimacy, while the symmetry mirrors the discipline of weaving. The upigan here is not just an object—it is a declaration of how care is carried, how memory is held close, and how movement is sustained.

This artwork honors the pouch as both artifact and philosophy. By translating its weave into geometric abstraction, IJWBAA positions the upi-an as a visual prayer for continuity: a reminder that even the smallest vessels carry legacy. Upigan becomes a chromatic chant of containment, resilience, and radical humility—where the act of holding is itself a form of care.

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