We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Deisa Hidalgo a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Deisa, thanks for joining us today. Let’s jump to the end – what do you want to be remembered for?

Just as how books would outlive their writers, I would love my illustrations to live on even after I passed. To be shared from one person to another, and to spark conversations between those who encounter my works. I want to keep creating things that I love with bits and pieces of my own little stories encapsulated within them and hoping that the next person who will encounter it would remember a little fond memory through my works. As I tend to draw more about yearning and nostalgia, which is deeply rooted from my experiences in filling in the void of finding things that is reminiscent of what I deem as my “home”, I would love my works to feel like “home” to those who find it. ◡̈

Deisa, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Hi, and nice to meet you all!

I’m Deisa, and I am a visual artist from the Philippines. I have graduated with a degree in Multimedia arts with a focus on Graphic Design in 2019, and since then I have worked professionally as a designer. My first full-time job was under a corporate fashion retail company which was pretty well-known locally in the Philippines, and this was my first exposure to the industry. Being in the company has introduced me to dealing with immense pressure and collaborating with different groups of people, which at the end of the day, has lead me to breaking in the industry and connecting with people who have been working in it for a longer time.

In my line of work, connections is everything—and as an introvert, I had to work double time in order to put myself out there.
I started to build my art account on Instagram whenever I have some down time from work, and pushed myself to illustrate more as I wanted to work with people in the music industry. I had no idea how I could make it work since most of my works were mostly related to fashion and retail, but I still continued to post consistently with the work that I wanted to do. These would include illustrations and short comics inspired by my favorite musicians like Day6 (A South Korean band), Stephanie Poetri, NIKI, Fiji, Honne, and a lot more. Then I started to venture out to creating my fan-made illustrated music videos for B-side tracks that never had their own official music videos because they tend to be the songs that resonated with me a lot. I began to upload these videos up on Youtube, and tagged the artists in hopes of them seeing it. Little by little, the videos started to pick up some audience, and out of nowhere one of the artists whom I’ve been following for the longest time finally saw my works, and reached out for a collaboration. And that was how I got to debut my first ever official music video entitled “It Just Is” by eaJ feat. Seori.

I felt so much pride with that video as I was in the middle of juggling my MFA program while producing the entire music video under a time crunch. It was also that time where my art account started to garner attention and it gave me a a reassuring feeling that there are people who actually love the works that I put out there.

From then on, I started to get more commissions from musicians such as Sarah Kang, Anthony Lazaro, Stephanie Poetri, Ashley Alisha, and more, which I am happy and grateful for as this was the type of work that I longed to have. With every client that I deal with, I always make sure to listen to their story behind each track as this is the heart of every project. It’s delicate and personal, which is why I put my utmost attention towards them. It’s always a treat to hear the things that inspired them, and I find it important to know these details before I work on the illustrations as these would make the artwork more meaningful and impactful.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Prior to where I am currently standing in my career, I, too, have my own fair share of endless trials and errors in finding a place for my works in the music industry. As someone who could not sing, I definitely crossed out the idea of doing song covers for my favorite musicians. I figured that I might as well draw something that tethers back to the songs.

I remember during my weekends off work, I kept animating and illustrating things for my fan-made videos and I kept tagging the artists hoping that they would see them. I made several videos from 2019-2021, and within those three years, lingering thoughts of self-doubt started to float in my head. I began to question myself if I was cut out for this job, if I was “creative” enough, and so much more, and at some point, I had to take some time off from drawing in order to refresh my thoughts. It helps a lot to go out to bookstores, cafes, malls, or even parks just to clear your mind a bit, and you won’t realize it but you’ll slowly get back to creating again! Don’t push and force yourself to draw whenever you’re in an art block because you’ll end up more frustrated and angry at yourself, and instead, give yourself a break and take some time to relax and unwind for a bit as this would help reset your thoughts as well!

After getting over my slump, I started to get back to creating even more videos, and eventually, that consistency has lead me to more people noticing my works and building my own audience as well. I do believe that having a constant flow is important, but giving yourself time to breathe and recover in between is as important as working hard.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

For me, the most rewarding aspect of being an artist is when you see people resonate with your works and they would tell you that it reminded them of certain fond memories, and that it has inspired them in a way! It always brings a smile to my face knowing that my works had reached hundreds of people and have brought strangers together.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://thedayss.cargo.site/
• Instagram: @_thedayss