The Grim Reefer was my undergraduate thesis for the University of the Philippines College of Fine Arts. It is a crochet installation depicting and simulating the bottom of the West Philippine Sea amidst the maritime conflict between China and the Philippines.

The installation takes viewers through a simulated experience of being on the ocean floor, coming face-to-face with the state of our once beautiful coral reefs. Harvested and destroyed by the Chinese, the corals are left in devastation, and our giant clams are taken from their homes for the sake of jewelry. The installation depicts a net hanging from the ceiling at the heart of the reef, harvesting corals and clams, disturbing the peace and the underwater ecosystem.

This thesis installation is a tribute to my late grandfather, Albert del Rosario, who led the arbitration case against China at the International Court of Arbitration in 2016.