Born in Montalban Rizal, the Philippines, Rodel Tapaya (b. 1980) graduated from University of the Philippines, before travelling to University of Art and Design (Helsinki, Finland) and Parsons School of Design (New York City) for further studies. In 2001, Tapaya won the Grand Prize of the Nokia Art Awards Asia Pacific. Since 1999, Tapaya has been actively participating in solo and group exhibitions. Tapaya continues his theme of representing myths, folklore and legends in ‘The Creation Myths’. He incorporates several pre-colonial myths and intertwines them in this dreamscape, making it impossible to separate one from the other. The mythical bird Manaul, whose feathers are said to have been transformed into different animals, including humans, dominates here. Yet, other stories are seen here too, such as the Creator and King of Time on the cloud, Kan-Laon, and the tales about the children of Bathala, Apolaqui and Mayari, who are the Sun and the Moon respectively.
