Mark Tandoyog uses experiences in his life to give himself a sense of hope.

As a nature lover it is his mountain bike, running shoes, backpack that reminds him of positive experiences.

Tandoyog uses life itself as a source of inspiration, travelling going to other places gives an impact to his artistic development.

He considers stories from his mother and father on culture and ethnic lineage his Igorot culture inspires many of his art pieces.

My life experience’s has always made an impact in my life, I join a full marathons and when I see person with physical disabilities and old people age 60 to 70 years old finishing the hard race, this inspires me a lot.

I aspire to be a better person to continue with my art and inspire other people through it.

All the diverse strings around Mark Tandoyog’s life converge in his art. The mix that is his life and the lives of those around him determines mixed media as his most comfortable expression.

A progeny of kanka-naey parents, he pegs his native roots in La Trinidad, Benguet.

This ethnic origin meets with the cosmopolitan milieu of nearby Baguio City, where he spends a lot of his time. His birth in 1972 synchronized his grow years to a dynamic period in arts and culture center-staged by active Baguio Arts Guild. Although he studied to be a nurse at the  Pines City Colleges, his feet often led him to Baguio Convention Center, a frequent venue for art events.

He believes in balance, even of the most unlikely but effective pairs. In his art, pop meets folk, culture meets counter-culture, seriousness meets with humor and kalokohan. In his own lifestyle, he plays the balance. You’d find him dead drunk in on instance and a 50-kilometer race finisher in another instance. Flea, Henry Rollins, Kurt Cobain and Joe Strummer appeal to him as much as the Dalai Lama and Krishna resound with his inner truths.

The balance doesn’t come easy, he admits. He questions a lot. He questions what his senses perceive. He questions society. He questions, even himself, all throughout his process of creating. In this process of questioning, he breaks illusions, he creates.

For him, it was music that facilitated his own awakening. Punk rock introduced him to the world behind and beyond what the senses perceive, to the discovery of truths. For his turn of drawing his own statements, Mark questions.