Biography

Queer theory, transgender studies, postcolonial studies, sexual and reproductive labor, biopolitics and necropolitics, urban geographies, visual culture, Philippines

While researching in the Philippines, I became interested in how commissioned street art was becoming increasingly prevalent within urban landscapes and infrastructures in Metro Manila. My work positions street art as a text and language of the city, reading the co-optation of street art by state and corporate entities in Metro Manila as emblematic of their “world-class desires” toward transforming Metro Manila into a “global city.” As such, my research interrogates capitalist corruptions of street art’s public and democratic nature, and by extension, establishes street art as a focal point for examining the shrinkage of public (and green) spaces in Metro Manila.