7 Filipino Designers on the Rise

This week The Artling is featuring 7 Filipino contemporary designers on the rise. These designers come from different parts of the Philippines with a mix of backgrounds and experiences, which have helped to hone their craft and influence their designs. From design objects to furniture pieces, scroll down to learn more about these Filipino designers and their creations. 

Jinggoy Buensuceso

Jinggoy Buensuceso is a visual artist, sculptor, and designer from Bataan. He challenges the boundaries of contemporary art and design, and does not shy away from working with difficult materials to connect with his viewers on both a physical and metaphysical level.

Jinggoy's creativity shines through in his 'Ink Candelabra', which was was inspired by the art of calligraphy. A calligrapher's ink creates haphazardly beautiful shapes on paper; each stroke is a mark of a fate and is never repeated. Similarly, with each of Jinggoy's 'Ink' pieces, no creation is exactly the same.

Wilhelmina Garcia

Born in Biñan, Wilhelmina Garcia is a graduate of Interior Design at St. Scholastica’s College in Manila. She is a strong advocate of the environment and creates furniture that contributes to environmental sustainability.  Her designs have been exhibited in different events in the Philippines as well as Paris, Belgium, Germany, and Japan. In 'Anak ng Tupa, Wilhelmina used recycled plastic rope to design this colourful chair and stool set. 

Stanley Ruiz

Stanley Ruiz is an industrial designer with an extensive background in craft design and production who was born and raised in Manila. His work explores the familiar to create new meanings and interpretations of object archetypes. Stanely's time living in Bali and New York have influenced his works and are complemented by his singular, rational approach to design. His works have appeared at the Museum of Arts and Design and New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York. He has exhibited at the Salone Del Mobile in Milan, Maison & Objet in Paris and Singapore, Ambiente in Frankfurt, and in the Philippine International Furniture Show. 

Gabriel Lichauco

Gabriel Lichauco holds a Master’s degree in Industrial Design from Scuola Politecnica di Design. He has been practicing design since 2001. 'Diamond' is an elegant glass piece that is part of Gabriel's "Pinch the Bublinka" collection; a series of objects and vases that were born from an experiment combining two glass pieces. The colored glass was made using antique metal mold, while the bubble and vase were made from the traditional blown glass method.

Eric C. Sanchez

Eric C. Sanchez hails from Tarlac of the Central Luzon region in the Philippines and has dabbled in advertising and brand design before moving on to working with ceramics. Specialising in teracotta, he creates unique slabs, tiles, and jars with his company Red Slab Pottery.

Rita Nazareno

Once an Emmy Award-winning television producer, Rita Nazareno decided to shift her focus and pursue her passion of design. She is the Creative Director of ZACARIAS 1925, a brand of hand-woven bags and home accessories, which has shown in Maison et Objet Paris, Pitti Firenze, Super Milan, and Salone et Mobile. Referencing contemporary art, architecture and cinema, Rita fuses contemporary elements into the traditional craft of hand-weaving. 

Lilianna Manahan

Manila-born Lilianna Manahan finished her Foundation Studies in Art and Design at Central Saint Martins School of Art and Design in 2004 and completed her BFA Industrial Design degree at the University of the Philippines. Her work has been described as alternately whimsical or industrial, depending on the objects she designs. She utilises materials that range from natural materials and ceramics to resins and metals, at times creating the finishes herself. She pays close attention to detail in her pieces through functional and artistic elements, which can be seen in here in 'Day 6 Mini'. The glass piece depicts the emergence of a particular milestone in a state of flux.

 

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We hope you've enjoyed learning more about these Filipino designers, and how their journeys have influenced their creative processes and pieces. 

To browse more of our curated design collection click here. If you need additional guidance or have specific requirements, you can have a look at our art consultancy services, or chat with our expert curators on any product page.