Gelo Zarsuelo: Queer Memoryscapes and the Art of Remembering

By Noel Galon de Leon

It is essential to direct our attention to Gelo Zarsuelo, a rising young visual artist whose practice is rooted in memory, identity, and place. Born in Iloilo and raised in Aklan, Zarsuelo is steadily carving a name for himself in the visual arts scene, particularly in Western Visayas. His youth belies a maturity and consistency that distinguish him among his contemporaries. His prolific output and commitment to personal, narrative-driven work mark him as one of the most compelling emerging voices in Philippine art today.

Zarsuelo’s art is anchored in memory, not as nostalgia, but as an act of reclamation and resistance. Through his work, he creates spaces where personal and collective histories converge, offering viewers a window into queer identity shaped by geography, family, and the emotional residue of home. These themes are particularly resonant in his latest body of work.

On May 24, his second solo exhibition, Home/Towns, opened to the public at Quarto Uno, Puluy-an Art Space in Brgy. Bita Sur, Oton, Iloilo. This alternative art venue is co-owned by fellow visual artists Melvin Guirhem and Recheal Olivares Guirhem, and is known for championing the participation of young and emerging talents in the growth of the local art scene in Iloilo.

Home/Towns is more than a mere showcase, it is a quiet yet powerful assertion of presence. It serves as an intimate cartography of memory and identity, articulated through Zarsuelo’s distinctive visual language. As an artist, he invites us to reflect on how the personal can be inherently political, how the act of remembering becomes an act of creation, and how art can resist the forces of forgetting.

The exhibition consists of nine paintings, namely: In Loving Memory Of, Hatid-Sundo, Alaga, Baligya I, Baligya II, Remembering I, Remembering II, Through Him, To Him, and Some Nights in Jaro, along with an installation titled Sampayan.

Sampayan as Memory and Source of Strength

In a succinct video interview conducted by Donny Pedregosa for Gelo Zarsuelo’s exhibition, the artist discloses that Home/Towns draws its inspiration from the intimate history of his small family. Central to this narrative are his late mother, who owned dusters hung on the clothesline (sampayan), his father’s white t-shirt and tank top (sando) is also displayed on the clothesline, and the good morning towels that, according to Zarsuelo’s recollections, served as a livelihood enterprise his father pursued to sustain the family. Anchoring the installation is a classic floral blanket, which functions as a poignant metaphor for Zarsuelo’s identity and heritage.

What is remarkable about Zarsuelo’s artistic vision is his ability to unearth profound stories from the ordinary objects that surround him. This installation exemplifies how the mundane, dusters, white t-shirts and tank tops, good morning towels, and a well-worn blanket can be transformed into vessels of memory and meaning. However, Zarsuelo does not merely romanticize these everyday items; he layers them with complex significations that extend beyond the personal, inviting viewers to engage with universal themes of memory, family, and belonging.

The careful composition of colors, the violet of the duster, the pristine white of the t-shirt and tank top, the symbolic weight of the good morning towels as markers of economic survival, and the timeless floral patterns of the blanket intertwines narratives of maternal love, warmth, and protection. This interplay of visual and symbolic elements constitutes the installation’s core strength. It empowers Zarsuelo not only to explore and affirm his own identity but also to meditate on broader concepts of absence and presence, loss and remembrance, and the enduring significance of familial bonds.

In Sampayan, memory becomes both muse and medium, a source of resilience that transcends the personal to resonate with collective experiences. Zarsuelo’s work invites us to reconsider the value of everyday objects as repositories of history and emotion, challenging us to remember, reflect, and find strength in the delicate threads of memory.

A Portrait of the Father as Gratitude

Gelo Zarsuelo’s relationship with his father emerges as a subtle yet powerful undercurrent in his body of work. In a recent gathering, the artist spoke candidly about the support he receives from his father, particularly in his practice as a painter. This paternal presence, often understated yet deeply felt takes visual form in two of his most intimate works: Hatid-Sundo and Alaga. Both paintings may be read as quiet gestures of gratitude, tributes to a father who, despite the constraints of a modest life, placed trust in his son’s talent and believed in the promise of his future as an artist.

This dimension of Zarsuelo’s life holds critical weight, especially within the context of queer identity. Not all queer artists are afforded this kind of familial acceptance and emotional security. In highlighting this relationship, Zarsuelo not only offers a rare representation of paternal support in queer narratives, but also suggests that the emotional courage and thematic richness of his work are in part grounded in this foundational bond.

The painting Alaga functions as both portrait and metaphor. On the surface, it is a depiction of Zarsuelo’s father, but beneath the image lies a complex layering of emotional textures. The father’s expression carries a tension between joy and quiet melancholy, a visual duality mirrored in the painting’s use of color: vivid hues clash and blend with muted tones, creating a palette that embodies both vibrancy and restraint. This emotional complexity extends to the painting’s texture, where rough and smooth strokes coexist, echoing the emotional labor that often defines parental love.

One particularly evocative element in the painting is the presence of a fighting rooster, a nod to the father’s personal pastime. In Filipino culture, the sabong rooster is more than a hobby; it represents masculinity, struggle, and often a form of escape or expression among working-class men. Zarsuelo’s inclusion of this motif is not incidental; it functions as a cultural anchor, linking the father’s individual identity to a broader collective experience that viewers, especially Filipino audiences can immediately recognize. 

Zarsuelo’s portrait of his father transcends mere likeness. It is a study in emotional inheritance, resilience, and the quiet heroism found in everyday familial relationships. By situating personal memory within the visual language of contemporary art, Zarsuelo not only honors his father but also expands the possibilities of what queer memory and gratitude can look like on canvas.

Lessons from Memory and Queerness

Zarsuelo’s exhibition is more than just an artistic display, it is an invitation to reimagine how we experience memory, love, and identity. It challenges not only the traditional ways of exhibiting art but also dares us to confront our own sensibilities and expand our imagination.

At the heart of Zarsuelo’s work is the enduring power of memory. Through intimate objects, his mother’s duster, his father’s t-shirt and undershirt, he transforms the everyday into symbols of love, loss, and legacy. The duster, for instance, is no longer just a piece of clothing; it becomes a vessel of eternal love. By turning it into art, Zarsuelo immortalizes his mother’s memory, showing us how grief and remembrance can give rise to beauty and meaning.

Equally moving is Zarsuelo’s portrayal of his relationship with his father. Unlike the often painful narratives queer individuals carry about familial acceptance, Zarsuelo’s story is one of warmth, connection, and gratitude. His father’s quiet love and open support become a wellspring of artistic inspiration. In Zarsuelo’s eyes, his father is not just a subject but a work of art himself. Capturing his presence on canvas is an act of both honor and deep appreciation.

Zarsuelo’s art resonates because it is rooted in truth. His understanding of life, his tender memories of his late mother, and his strong bond with his father all find expression in his work. These emotions are not just seen, they are felt. And through them, his art speaks to us, offering meanings that branch out and bloom within each of us. This exhibition is not just about queerness or loss, it is about the power of love to transcend absence, the courage to be seen, and the transformative magic of memory made visible.

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Noel Galon de Leon is a writer and educator at University of the Philippines Visayas, where he teaches in both the Division of Professional Education and U.P. High School in Iloilo. He serves as an Executive Council Member of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts-National Committee on Literary Arts.