Julie Lluch began practising as an artist in the 1970s and is one of the Philippines’ foremost sculptors. She was born in Iligan City, Mindanao and, like her daughter Kiri Dalena, retains strong links to her birthplace. Lluch is best known for portrait and figurative sculptures in clay and terracotta that address issues from feminism, religion and indigeneity to pointed critiques of political corruption and injustice.

Sunrise (for Adi) and Badi Grapiti (Para Kay Erikson) 2023 show her instead using the medium of cold-cast marble, with detailed scenes painted directly on the ‘skin’ of fragmented torsos and limbs. The sculptures pay tribute to individuals known to Lluch, such as social realist painter and committed activist Adi Baen Santos (1943–2021), and commemorate the tragic early deaths of activists and close family friends, including National Democratic Front consultant Ericson Acosta. Highlighting the nation’s long history of activism and protest, Lluch chronicles the prominent role that artists have played and continue to play in issues of human rights.

Return to Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago: Roots and Currents