Leeroy New on How His Lola’s Folk Stories Inspired His Art

Leeroy New, the internationally acclaimed artist behind large-scale installations such as “Mebuyan’s Colony” and “Balay Balete,” has always found a way to integrate Filipino folklore into his art.

“Balay Balete,” in particular, takes inspiration from New’s “aswang” heritage.

“I have a fascination for looking back to the stories I heard when I was a child,” says New in the latest episode of Rolling Stone Philippines Greatest Hits. He says, “My lola told me multiple stories about how she was able to tame sigbins in Mindanao. She’s from Cotabato City, originally from Siquijor. So may lahi akong aswang kaya mabilis tumubo kuko ko [Laughs].”

Made from almost 2,000 recycled plastic bottles woven into the roots, trunk, and sprawling branches of a life-sized balete tree, “Balay Balete” originally towered over visitors at the National Museum of Anthropology in 2023.

With “Balay Balete,” the artist hoped to incorporate the image of the balete tree, which often appears in Filipino mythology as the dwelling place of supernatural entities, and have it reckon with its place in a colonized, hyper-religious Philippines.

“There’s this mystical quality to the stories of our grandmothers,” said New. “We were warned as kids to not go to balete trees… I feel that these natural places of worship got demonized by our colonial religion in order for us to worship inside religion-sanctioned spaces.”

As with so many of his large-scale pieces, New also made a point of using only recycled materials in “Balay Balete.” “I’ve taken it as a challenge to use materials I’m able to source in junkshops,” said New, “[and] by doing so, I’m able to actively participate in redistributing the waste.”

In this episode of Rolling Stone Philippines Greatest Hits, New breaks down five of his works and installations and how they’ve influenced the current trajectory of his career. You can watch the full episode now on our YouTube channel.