A girl stands with her back turned. Her dress opens into a collage of birds, staircases, mechanical parts, and imagined spaces. The piece, Hiraya, takes its name from an old Tagalog word meaning the fruit of one’s hopes and dreams. AR Manalo painted it while thinking of his daughter. She may not appear in the image, yet her presence shapes its emotion and tone. “It’s me imagining her world,” he says. “Just a dad wishing and dreaming of a great future for his unica hija.”
This sense of storytelling started early. As a child in a modest home, Manalo drew comics in the margins of his notebooks, inspired by cartoons, movies, and daydreams. “My greatest toy was my imagination,” he says.
His compositions hold deep emotion and memory. His subjects appear calm at first glance. A closer look reveals more: a teddy bear, a book, a dream, and traces of family. “My works are siksik,” he says, using the Filipino word for jampacked. “They hold the things I want to share with my daughter: curiosity, uncertainty, and hope.”
Manalo usually starts with a figure and lets the piece develop. “They often begin as scattered ideas that gradually take shape as the work progresses,” he says. Using graphite, acrylic, charcoal, ink, and collage, he blends solid and delicate elements.
In Hayliti 1, a carousel anchors the frame. Around it, a halved horse, old photos, gears, and Victorian figures surround the scene. “I like combining stillness and movement, tradition and modernity,” he says. The composition stays structured but still invites viewers to look closely.
His attentiveness has grown since becoming a father. “She notices everything,” he says of his daughter. That kind of awareness follows him into the studio. “When I paint alone, especially at night, I talk to God. It’s become part of how I work.”
Faith grounds him and shapes how he sees the world. At 13, encouraged by his parents, he joined the Bukas Loob sa Diyos Community’s youth ministry. The experience shaped his path and introduced him to his future wife. “They pushed me to take a leap of faith and follow my dreams,” he says.
That foundation carries into his art. Manalo highlights human dignity, care, and reverence. His paintings often feature workers, commuters, and vendors, people he passes daily. “Including them is one way I acknowledge their presence,” he says. His work turns attention to lives that are often overlooked.
From September 26 to 28, Manalo will exhibit Hiraya and Hayliti 1 at Art Fair Asia Fukuoka through Village Art Gallery. The fair gathers contemporary artists, galleries, and collectors from across Asia. This marks his first international show. “These pieces are personal,” he says. “I’m grateful they’ll be seen.”
Each work begins in its own way. Some build through dense layering, while others stay simple. He might start with a face or focus on a detail such as a photo, a scrap, or a memory. “Each one pulls me in a different direction. I try to follow where it leads.”
His portraits and collages carry quiet stories that are often missed. “If someone connects with even a small part of the work, that already means something to me.” Each piece invites us to pay attention. Manalo draws us into the inner worlds of memory, faith, and care that shape how we see the world.
