Mayne Bautista

Imulanak Dita Pusom (Plant Me In Your Heart)

Imulanak dita Pusom (Plant me in Your Heart) is a performance rooted in the fear of being forgotten and the ache of cultural disconnection. Portraying myself as a jasmine flower sampaguita, a symbol of love, devotion, and memory I embody the longing to return to a time and place where I once felt whole. In the performance, I take on the form of a holy statue, piercing my heart with a garden trowel to express the deep yearning to be seen, loved, and remembered. The act of planting and removing dirt becomes a ritual of mourning, purity, and rebirth grieving a lost self while planting seeds for renewal. Through scent, gesture, and stillness, this work becomes a ghostly offering, asking to be remembered not just in memory, but in the hearts of those I’ve loved and lost.