: Dream Guardians | Haraya Tejido

Visual artist Haraya Tejido invites us into a world of wonder through the lens of pure, childlike imagination and fantasy – embarking us on a journey to spiritual guidance and solace through her newest online exhibit titled “Dream Guardians”. The 9-piece collection comprises charming, delightful characters often recurring in children’s story books, shows, and media alike: friendly parent and child portraits of storybook animals embellished in Haraya’s signature style of blossoming nature – bright and refreshing elements of color, texture, and form.

“Haraya is a Tagalog word for imagination,” the artist notes. Keeping true to her name, Haraya continuously journals her meaningful lessons as both a woman and a mother of two, passionately upholding the belief that providing young children with avenues of excitement and wonder essentially build core, joyful memories as they grow. Further, her belief is fantastically illustrated in her latest series, with names reflecting primary lessons and ambitions in life such as knowledge, success, and wisdom.

Haraya Corazon Ocampo Tejido (b.1981) received her Marketing Management degree from the De La Salle University Manila in 2002. She unofficially started her art practice back in 2009 as a studio apprentice for visual artist Jomike Tejido, her spouse. Working on several pieces every month helped Haraya hone her skills, “as if it were art classes conveniently situated in our home studio” she narrates. In 2021, after more than a decade of working as an apprentice, Haraya ventured signing her own pieces that reflect her personal interests. Incidentally, opportunities for group shows arose, and from these foundations, her latest works have come to bloom.

The artist describes her oeuvre as whimsical and stylized. Inspired by the beauty of nature, her flowers are graphical depictions of their real counterparts, intentionally shedding itself from the

bounds of realism with her signature essential forms and uplifting color schemes. Haraya intends for these blooms to serve as sources of strength, as well as provide healing refuge for one’s eyes can rest.