Wrapping up Pride Month with swirls and waves of color, the open edition archival prints coincide with the launch of a legal guidebook for the LGBTQIA+ community by MujerPH.
Pride Month might be over, but the movement towards creating safer spaces and better rights for the LGBTQIA+ community continues. The Nuyda Estate, which manages the works of Filipino artist and lepidopterist Justin Nuyda, recently wrapped up the celebration with the release of open edition archival prints featuring the artist’s work “PRIDE.”
The piece was also chosen as the cover of a newly-launched legal guidebook for the LGBTQIA+ community, Justice with Pride: LGBTAQIA+ Community Legal Guidebook in the Philippines. An initiative led by Zamboanga City-based non-government organization MujerPH LGBT+, the book aims to empower the community with useful tools that shed light on basic legal rights and protections of LGBTQIA+ individuals in the Philippines.
READ ALSO: How Martine Velasco Reimagines Desire in Her Debut Show
The Story Behind PRIDE
“My father has always been an ally of the LGBTQIA+ community,” shares Nuyda’s daughter, Ayni, who also serves as the Founder and Project Director of non-government organization Search Mindscape. “He embraced individuality and helmed spaces and concepts like the Hobbit House that made everyone feel safe and welcome.”
As a lepidopterist, butterflies—a species that carry both male and female traits—constantly fascinated the artist. “To him, they embody something rare, wondrous, and worthy of being regarded with reverence. That same quiet strength pulses beneath ‘PRIDE,’” she adds.
A part of Nuyda’s Helix series, the piece is a visual deconstruction of spheres—which, at first glance, appear to be separated, but are actually entwined when viewed up close, converging at different points. This intricate and inextricable connectedness present in Nuyda’s work is also a nod to community, identity, survival, and spirit.
“He was largely inspired by CDs for this artwork. For most of his spherical images, he drew from vinyl records, pencil shavings, shells, and the symmetry of butterfly wings. PRIDE is a reflection on the different colors, navigating different directions, yet always connected,” Ayni describes. “The circular shapes reveal my dad’s sensitivity to transformations, refracting light and presence without spectacle.”
The 36 x 48 inch-oil-on-canvas piece is also a reflection of the artist’s extroverted nature, marking his “quiet, triumphant return to the studio” after dealing with health complications. While he mainly worked on canvases after a surgery, he returned to larger canvases once more from April to February 2020, and finished “PRIDE” in June that same year.
The artist’s brief shift towards vibrant hues is attributed to his eye cataract almost two decades ago. Ayni clarifies, “Once he had his eye surgery he incorporated more earthy tones to his art again. ‘PRIDE’ was the first time, however, that he brought all of these earthy colors in one artwork.” The result is a painting that comes alive through his brush techniques, luminous in appearance and pulsing with a gentle energy.
While the artwork itself will remain with the Nuyda family, they decided to release open edition archival prints in an effort to make fine art more accessible. The piece also serves as a visual reminder of the importance of embracing one’s most authentic self and supporting the LGBTQA+ community, even outside of Pride Month.
Interpreting Color
A short video shot by multidisciplinary artist Bimpoman, with production by Triangulum, will accompany the release of Nuyda’s “PRIDE” open edition archival prints. The short film zooms in on intimate details like colors, strokes, curves, and gradients that reveal the artist’s personal reflections and internal conversations.
The video is supplemented with a poem written by Ayni, and narrated by his grandson Henry. “As we worked on the video we asked, ‘What if PRIDE could talk?’” Ayni intimates. The poem mimics the painting: simple yet nuanced, it parallels the painting’s movements, describing the multiplicity and dynamism of identity—with PRIDE being, simultaneously, a concept, experience, continuation, and way of life.
Live With Pride, Know Your Rights
“PRIDE” is now the centerpiece of the newly-published Justice with Pride: LGBTAQIA+ Community Legal Guidebook in the Philippines. Published by Mujer LGBT+—in partnership with the British Embassy, TrustLaw, Thomson Reuters Foundation, and SyCip Salazar Hernandez & Gatmaitan—the handbook contains essential information on existing laws and resources that serve the queer community in the country, as well as actionable steps on how they can exercise their rights when faced with harassment and unequal treatment.
Ayni was first introduced to the project through award-winning documentary filmmaker, Rhadem Musawah, who is also an Indigenous Moro Human Rights Defender. “We presented the UK Ambassador to the Philippines, HE Laure Beaufils, with a print of my father’s artworks. Rhadem asked if they could feature ‘PRIDE’ on the cover,” Ayni elaborates.
The partnership extends to a sustained model for supporting MujerPH’s cause. Prints of PRIDE will be accompanied by a copy of Pride with Justice. “We are committed to distributing a copy for every order of a PRIDE archival print,” Ayni adds. “More than that, we also want to continue exploring how we can truly support the community by tapping legal guidance, policy, and diplomacy.”
PRIDE open edition archival prints are available at www.justinnuyda.com.
Photos courtesy of the Nuyda Estate and Before Deadlines.
