Michael Chuapoco (b. Manila, Philippines) is an interdisciplinary artist based in Brooklyn, New York. He received a Bachelor of Industrial Design degree from Pratt Institute in 2009. His work has been exhibited at BKLYN Designs, Brooklyn NY; IMM Cologne, Germany; DIFFA’s Dining by Design, NYC; Hudson River Museum, Yonkers NY; and the Southampton Arts Center, Southampton NY.
ARTIST STATEMENT:
Through figurative painting, Michael Chuapoco explores layers and nuances of longing and the queer gaze. His work moves across a range of subjects, including portraiture, tiled interiors, architectural and psychological thresholds, and depictions of classical sculpture.
Idealized Forms is a series of acrylic-on-canvas paintings inspired by classical nude sculpture. The figures—often in states of embraced conflict—are consistently depicted with intact genitals, reflecting the anatomical appearance common throughout much of the world. By doing so, the work contrasts with the normalized aesthetic in the United States, where routine infant circumcision remains a widespread cultural and medical practice.
In many cases, this procedure is chosen by parents or recommended within certain religious or familial traditions. Major health organizations such as the American Academy of Pediatrics and the World Health Organization note that the potential health benefits do not warrant a universal recommendation and emphasize the importance of providing accurate, unbiased information to support informed parental decision-making. The practice, however, occurs before individual choice or bodily agency can be exercised, raising ongoing questions around autonomy, cultural norms, and consent.
Idealized Forms also considers the nuanced intersections of intimacy, vulnerability, and conflict. The compositions invite viewers into a shifting interpretive space in which tenderness and tension coexist—echoing how early experiences, including those involving care, discomfort, or power dynamics, can leave lasting impressions on one’s developing sense of connection and desire.
More broadly, the series reflects on how early bodily and relational experiences contribute to our understanding of intimacy, self-worth, and the expectations we carry into adulthood regarding our bodies and our relationships.
In Chuapoco’s series, Damp Tiled Spaces, the artist delves into recall-inducing scenes that transform mundane settings—subway platforms, gym locker rooms, public restrooms, and murky basement hallways—into charged psychological landscapes. These seemingly ordinary environments, often characterized by fluorescent lighting, humidity, and tiled surfaces, become sites of uncertainty. They evoke a sense of familiarity while remaining elusive, mirroring the artist’s experience of fragmented or unclear past events. Through the repetition of architectural motifs and the subtle tension in each composition, Chuapoco attempts to access latent memories buried beneath the surface of consciousness. The paintings do not offer concrete narratives but instead conjure the atmosphere of half-remembered moments—glimpses that exist on the edge of recognition. In this way, the work becomes both a personal excavation and a broader meditation on how memory, especially when incomplete or emotionally charged, can be triggered by spaces and sensory details often overlooked.
Chuapoco often returns to architectural elements—doorways, windows, and other transitional structures—as literal and symbolic representations for the complexities of belonging and identity. These thresholds suggest more than physical passage; they evoke moments of hesitation, ambiguity, and liminality. Unlike the damp, memory-charged spaces in his other work, these forms speak to the psychological and social experience of existing in between: between cultures, roles, or communities. Through these spatial motifs, Chuapoco explores what it means to live at the edge of visibility—where one is neither fully inside nor entirely excluded. The resulting tension invites viewers into a quiet negotiation between proximity and distance, challenging them to reflect on their own boundaries and positions within shared space.
Lastly, portraiture—for Chuapoco—offers a sense of relief from the heavy thinking that shapes much of his work. Painting others becomes a quieter, more intuitive practice, one that lets him step out of analysis and into simple presence. Whether he’s depicting family, mentors, or friends, the act is grounding: it shifts attention outward and creates a space where admiration, affection, and curiosity can unfold without scrutiny.
In this mode, portraiture becomes a way to explore closeness and distance through looking, rather than through concept. It also serves as a gentle study of perception—how we see others, what we choose to show or withhold, and how identity emerges in the moment of observation. Each portrait is less an attempt at perfect likeness than a brief, restorative exchange between artist and subject, between presence and absence.