Sioco,

"Inspired by her grade-school class adviser and encouraged by her mother’s co-teachers, Christine Sioco overcame her parents’ misgivings to secure a scholarship to study visual arts at the Philippine High School for the Arts (PHSA) and graduated with a Fine Arts degree from TUP Manila.

Even though she eventually dropped her PHSA scholarship, went AWOL from the UP Fine Arts certificate program, ran away to the deserts of the Middle East, and avoided art because of depression, Christine soon realized that art remained part of her life no matter what she did.

These days, Christine is a full-time artist, with lots of side hustles to support her passion. She prefers to paint the hard-pill-to-swallow subjects, such as social issues, traumas, mental health, and environmental awareness, as “no one (or maybe only a few) talk about them.” Majority of her works fall under the category of magical realism—not surrealism, she emphasizes. “Although my subjects are contemporary, I always include dreamy, disturbing, and eccentric visual storytelling. I also incorporate bas relief, which I accidentally discovered when my dominant hand suffered from De Quervain Syndrome.”

In her sculptural artworks, Christine uses acrylic, oil, and charcoal pencils; she has also experimented with resin, clay, and found objects like recycled paper. Mixed media and sustainable art have become her favorites, as these produce satisfying effects that one medium alone cannot achieve.

She counts among her achievements her selection as one of the artists who exhibited internationally at BbuzzArt (BbuzzShow@Singapore) in 2016 and at World Art Dubai in 2022. But the most important achievement for Christine right now is “staying alive and focused,” because from there, more achievements will follow."

“Art is my driving force to create something productive and beautiful even from uncomfortable experiences. It’s about answering God’s divine call, which always leads me back to this artistic path.”

Christine T.