In his 25th solo exhibition, “Celestial,” multidisciplinary artist and architect Jomike Tejido took viewers on a luminous journey of gratitude and creative evolution. The recently concluded exhibit was presented in partnership with Art Lounge Manila. It was a reflection of his journey and a celebration of life's seen and unseen elements.

The initial inspiration for “Celestial” was deeply personal. Jomike shared, “As this is a Thanksgiving show, I wanted to express gratitude to a higher power.” He explains that the exhibit was inspired by “looking up to the heavens and feeling thankful” for the opportunities and people he has encountered throughout his career. “We often look up for hope and guidance—and that upward gaze became a central gesture in this collection.” The exhibit was Jomike's way of honoring that journey.

Jomike's creative process for this collection married his architectural background with emotional intuition. He began by sketching his forms onto the canvas to create a balanced composition of large masses, which he then filled with color combinations that felt comfortable to him. He added details until the work felt complete, often working on several canvases at once. His architectural influence was visible in the works’ precise layering, balanced grids, and symbolic repetition. He approached each canvas like a building façade—planned, structured, and detailed. In his art, however, he finds a different kind of freedom. “Unlike architecture, in art, I’m free to build worlds where emotion leads.”

A notable new dimension in Jomike’s practice for “Celestial” was the debut of his all-metal kinetic hanging mobiles. These sculptures, inspired by motifs from his paintings, were suspended from the gallery’s ceilings. Jomike, who considered the sculptures his favorite part of the exhibit, shared that they were also the most challenging to create due to the custom metal parts and the process of finding the right balance and materials. He noted, “They’re like pieces of my canvases floating off the wall.” The sculptures, he believed, “brought energy, movement, and that sense of looking up—of hope and inspiration.”

At the heart of the exhibition are two large paintings, “Celestial Gratitude (Day)” and “Celestial Gratitude (Night),” which explore the dualities of light and shadow, motion and stillness. The “Day” painting featured warm tones of ochres, luminous golds, and coral that evoke sunlight, while the “Night” painting used violets, deep blues, and silvery hues to suggest introspection under starlight. Jomike hoped viewers connected with the colors and “feel thankful for the things in life that they can appreciate and be thankful for.” He emphasized that the exhibition was not about “mythic gods, but the quiet forces that get us through—faith, gratitude, support systems, and purpose.”

Jomike hoped that “Celestial” was an emotional experience for visitors, not just a visual one. “If people walked away with a feeling of thankfulness, or if they recognize a piece of their life in the mood of a painting—that’s enough,” he concluded.