MARIO LITO CABRERA

Sculptor/Welder

Mario Lito Cabrera hails from San Mateo, Rizal. The third son of Mario and Juliana. As everyone knows, Lito started working with the late master sculptor, Mr. Ben-Hur Villanueva Sr., as an assistant sculptor at seventeen. Ben-Hur and Lito worked on a 10 ft.  sculpture, “Mandaragat.”

On top of his other art projects, he again worked with the art master Ben-Hur Villanueva on the three-figure, 15 ft. high public art. This was the grand prize-winning entry of the first Bonifacio Art Foundation National Competition awarded to Ben-Hur G. Villanueva Sr. titled “Ang Supremo’’.

Mario Lito works as an assistant sculptor and continues doing his welding work commissions.

MICAH “MEEKA” HILOTIN

Soil Painter, Sculptress

Micah “Meeka” Hilotin is a soil painter and visual artist from Camarines Sur, Bicol.

She received her Bachelor in Fine Arts Degree at the University of the Philippines Baguio. Her undergraduate thesis titled “Hinga Ka Lungs: A Site-Specific Installation Art Using Moss as an Indicator of Air Pollution” was awarded as the Outstanding Thesis in the College of Arts and Communications for Creative Production. She welded an 8-ft.    metal sculpture with moss as the main material and installed at the University of the Philippines Baguio’s Oblation Grounds. The artwork was a visual representation of the affected respiratory system and aimed to create awareness of the alarming air quality of Baguio City. It was a culmination of skills she gained from the academe and apprenticeship program from artist/metal sculptor Mr. BenHur “Bumbo” Villanueva of Arko ni Apo Art Gallery.

As an artist who explores different art medium and art processes, she exposed herself to local and international art events through attending workshops and co-organizing art programs locally and internationally that encourages meaningful collaborations with different artists and community. She supports projects that promote Philippine culture, art appreciation, inclusive art education, and preservation of the environment through arts. Her works were exhibited in Bicol, Baguio, Manila, Japan, and Singapore.

In 2016, she started her Soil Searching Art Journey, wherein she collects soil samples and creates handmade paint as her medium in painting. Aside from being a soil painter and visual artist, she is the current Chief Operating Officer of Artdialogo Asia. She works with passion and service to the younger generation of artists. She helps promote and implement international and cross-cultural programs for young artists, especially in South East Asia.

Last 2021, she was chosen as one of the fellows of the Singapore International Foundation (SIF) for the Arts for Good Fellowship batch 2021. Along with other artists and art leaders from other countries, they worked virtually to create a project for the NalandaWay Foundation’s children in India.

The 15 ft. sculpture for the University of Makati was her first time working with public art; she assisted her art mentor, Mr. Ben Hur “Bumbo” Villanueva.

Alexandrea “Alex” Dioso is a virtual artist from Makati City. She holds an undergraduate degree in Fine Arts from the University of the Philippines Baguio, and currently pursues a Masters in Fine Arts degree from the University of the Philippines Diliman. Her academic research revolves around the experimentation and exploration of the materiality of metal and other industrial materials and their significations to urban spaces.

“My art production has become conversations with myself, resolutions to be translated for others and obsessions that should transpire one way or another… I recognize that materializing conceptualized artworks are part of a culmination of the dialectical process between myself and society. And so, I aim to effectively link the themes and materials into cohesive dimensions created to be read within the very context that contributed to its production. Each interaction and relationship within my immediate environment are prompts for art pieces (…) With this, I stay keen to metaphors that can be poured into creations, reflecting on what society is giving us and returning it back to our culture.” (Excerpt from full artist statement).

Alex primarily utilizes metal, as an art medium, in her sculptures due to its robustness and socio-cultural value throughout history. She is also versed in using other media (wood, plaster, epoxy, among others) in her art production. Her art revolves around human circumstances and vulnerabilities, each aiming to exhibit an understanding of specific occurrences she observes or experiences daily.

Several of her works have been showcased in art exhibitions in the country, some of which are in Metro Manila and Baguio City.  Alex has been an apprentice to the artist/metal sculptor Mr. Ben-Hur “Bumbo” Villanueva Jr. of Arko ni Apo Art Gallery since 2014.