ROOM THAT

HOLDS NO ONE

In studies of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud's argues that there are specific layers to the human psyche which allows individuals to discover layers of themselves. The Id represents our humanity at birth, our unconscious being. The Ego is our natural self, that unravels during our developmental years. And the Super Ego, which is our moral self, the conscious self that yearns to be our aspiration like the real self. In these realities, we associate our being with the memories that we build as we grow older, and the thoughts and feelings that we experience as we move forward with our life.

In Faye Abantao's Room That Holds No One, allows us, the viewer, to see an introspection of the things that we allow in our life, how it holds space in our lives and how we mourn the loss of the object that once held a space in our lives.

In her process of image transfer on canvas, Abantao works with the same uncertainty that comes with uncovering memories. As the paper is peeled away, the image underneath doesn’t always reveal itself perfectly—parts cling, parts tear, and sometimes whole fragments disappear.

Just like the layers in our individual selves, how can we peel the layers ourselves, without unraveling the ghost of that past? Or us getting hurt by our own memories? What shows through is never fully in the artist's full control. This accidental peeling feels close to how we revisit our own past: some details stay sharp, others fade, and some are lost no matter how hard we try to hold on. The act of peeling becomes a quiet metaphor for remembering itself—how fragile it can be, how it gives back pieces of truth and pieces of absence at the same time.

Banie Abantao

Solo Exhibition
Gravity Art Space, Quezon City, Philippines
September 2025