As the age-old saying goes, “Art is a universal language.”

Though a language barrier separates us slightly from our Southeast Asian neighbors, we each have similarities that shine through our cultures. This is best reflected through the works our artists produce. When we see an artist’s craft, we are compelled to feel for what the artist must have gone through. We start to question what could possibly be going on in their minds to elicit such a creation. And from the latest gallery added to the Iloilo Museum of Contemporary Art (ILOMOCA), we see just how creative minds from Southeast Asia formed together to dream up their vision of what the world can come to be.

“Connecting Borders: A Collection of Southeast Asian Art” is currently on display at ILOMOCA. Gathered from the collection of Ed Valencia, it features the works of various artists from the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. Here are some pieces worth checking out.

“Stand Strong Together” by Syahbandi Samat from Malaysia draws a mysterious allure for its unusual setting. A broken teacup set sits on the far end while a knife draws eerily close to another full tea cup set perched atop tied sticks. Underneath the table is an ax, whereas in the background lies what appears to be an unfinished landscape. It leaves you with many questions about what this may all mean.

From Indonesia, Taufik Ermas’s “Neither Here Nor There: Fairground Series # 8” puts a play on perspective through a modified canvas. As the viewer goes closer to the piece, the perspective warps and makes you feel as if you’re falling into the art. Its background presents a whimsical environment, akin to a circus stage.

Thailand’s Jakkapong Thapkoa presents a trippy visual in “Maya.” Ethereal figures pop out in vivid colors, locked together as they float in the night sky. Every being presented has unique features to gaze upon.

In “Centenary,” Vietnam’s Phan Cam Tuong depicts a crowd heading in one direction. Their bodies almost appear as if they were morphed together as they head for their destination. As you look closer, you wonder if there are few outliers that try to go against the flow. One appears to be a musician, holding a flute, facing the opposite direction. Toward the end of the line, another figure faces the opposite side as well and has what appears to be a look of disdain.

“Chapter 52: Broken Promises” is a piece by Denise Jillian Tan from Singapore. It features a lone girl burning a piece of paper, presumably symbolizing the broken promises. Waves splashing against the rocky coastline appear like a mist engulfing the area surrounding the little girl.

Finally, a personal standout from the Philippines is “Transfigurations in Paradise: FreAKtures Unleashed” by Frelan Gonzaga and Karina Broce-Gonzaga. Staring into the piece feels like catching a Hieronymus Bosch painting in the flesh. There are several distorted creatures, barely resembling their true animal form, scattering about the environment laid out before the viewer, leaving a hauntingly beautiful impression.