A Filipino Artist’s Life in the Big Apple

“Breathe.”

This is the very word I told myself as I nervously anticipated my first exhibit in New York last year. It was September and the city was bursting with life. But so much had happened since.  

Contemporary Filipino artist, Michaelangelo Laguisma, at his place in New York.

First came the pandemic that made New York the world’s epicenter. The city transformed into a nightmare overnight—the skyline cloaked by a virus, the yellow cabs replaced by wailing ambulances, the streets empty, and the subway silent. Even going out for fresh air felt like courting death.  

Then came the riots and everything was alive again, but this time it was the roaring of protests and angry songs that whizzed through the air. I along with millions languished in fear and despair, edging ever closer towards hopelessness. 

It is true, though, that art lights up the soul even in the darkest hours. As an essential worker, I was exposed to the harrowing scenes that came to define this crisis; yet as an artist, I found consolation in my art. Outdoors, I battled an invisible enemy and my own fears. Indoors, I was a fervent artist who immortalized the sights I see every day by turning them into subjects for my works.  

Michaelangelo’s impressive artworks were inspired by the people he chances upon from his daily walks and commute.

My life in New York has really been about storytelling. Every day I see stories unfolding in the streets, I recognize personal epics hewn on the faces of strangers. I can only imagine what narratives they tell. Finding myself without the means to know these narratives, I turn instead to preserving these images in my works.

I did not come here to live comfortably. The city is dirty, winter is brutal, traffic is crazy, and the climb is cutthroat. But it also has a distinct energy that does not exist anywhere else in the world. The pandemic almost snuffed the life out of New York yet in the bleakest moments, my art sustained me. Now that New York is rousing from its stupor, I find myself also healing, nourished back to health by my art and the returning energy of this singular city.