Tracing Threads
The Art and Curatorial Practice of Jopet Arias
In a time when the digital merges seamlessly with the tangible, I’ve found myself quietly and deliberately shaping my place within contemporary Filipino art. Since re-emerging in 2017, my practice has revolved around fusing traditional mediums with digital forms — drawing from post-internet aesthetics, augmented reality, and shared memory. But more than the art itself, what drives me is creating spaces for community, experimentation, and thoughtful dialogue.
Growing up as the son of a computer teacher, I was introduced early to the world of technology. The internet became a constant companion in my formative years. Since 2001, I’ve been one of the early Filipino digital explorers — immersing myself in spaces like DeviantArt, where I first fell in love with digital art. From archiving fragments of my youth online to forging connections through forums and creative communities, this digital foundation continues to shape how I make and think about art.
From my time as a digital nomad between 2011 and 2017, I carried my work and collaborations across geographies — learning, adapting, and staying rooted in the ephemeral. These years deeply informed my sensitivity to space, culture, and human connection, laying the groundwork for my re-emergence in the art world.
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Over the past decade, I’ve had the chance to exhibit across different platforms, both locally and internationally. Each project has allowed me to unravel stories — some personal, others collective. I approach both my art and my curatorial work with the same intent: to reframe narratives, question fixed identities, and open space for transformation.
As a co-founder of CryptoartPH, which has since evolved into the TLYR Collective, I’ve been deeply involved in shaping how Filipino artists engage with Web3. Through exhibitions and collaborations, I’ve explored digital ownership, smart contracts, and new modes of storytelling rooted in technology and care. Shows like “Walk With Me” and “Whispers of the Tides” are testaments to this evolving sensibility, blending physical presence with digital interventions.
Collaboration is at the heart of everything I do. I think of my exhibitions as living archives — layered with history, kinship, ritual, and connection. Projects like “Re-rooting in Unfamiliar Soil” reflect my ongoing inquiry into migration, ecology, and cultural memory. At the same time, participating in initiatives like “Manilabang” and curating for Art Fair Philippines has deepened my role in national dialogues around art and technology.
Wearing both the hats of artist and curator has shaped my approach in unique ways. I don’t just present work — I set the stage for conversations. My goal has never been just visibility. It’s emergence. It’s about creating a space where others can be seen and heard, too.
Lately, I’ve been drawn toward the concept of Pagbubuklod — binding and mending fragmented histories, reconnecting what was scattered. This takes form most clearly in “Re-rooting in Unfamiliar Soil,” a long-form curatorial and artistic project where archives, plants, and oral narratives come together to reckon with displacement and continuity.
https://cara.app/post/52da96ad-43bc-4c67-b187-b79636edde50
This is more than a theme for me. It’s a future practice. A way of working that embraces complexity, resists erasure, and centers care. Through it, I’m slowly building a manifesto — for myself and for the communities I move with. One that sees art not only as a site of expression but also as a space for remembering, healing, and reimagining what it means to belong. The connection of humanity to our histories and traditions is what makes us human. Our impact on the environment, on each other, and on the communities we grow with — these are the threads I continue to trace. We are not alone. We are part of kapwa.
