Ian Racoma
The Baboy
2025
Oil on canvas
Courtesy the artist

This work is on loan for the exhibition, Living Here, at the Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art, June 20 - December 20, 2025.

As a child, Ian Racoma moved between the United States and his grandparents’ home in the Philippines. Coming to adulthood in Las Vegas enabled him to maintain strong ties to Filipino culture “since there is such a large demographic of Filipinos here,” he explains. “This allowed for our families and friends to maintain certain traditions and religious holidays with big groups. A lot of the challenge growing up was navigating these two worlds and learning where and when to use a certain cultural language. These paintings touch a little on that navigation.”

The Baboy–”baboy” means “pig” in various Filipino dialects–reflects a different kind of anxiety. The fact that lechon is a traditional part of Filipino culture does not alleviate the disquiet he feels when he sees the whole animal fully roasted and laid out as the centerpiece of a meal.