When Crisdhel Khyt Dohinog stands between her sculptures, there’s a quiet, commanding strength about her. It’s not just the art that fills the room at La Consolacion College Bacolod’s Fine Arts Thesis Exhibition 2025—it’s the sheer weight of experience, courage, and healing woven into every curve and texture of her work.
Diagnosed with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) in 2022, Khyt knew early on that her thesis couldn’t just be another project. It had to be personal. It had to mean something.
“I chose this topic because personally I was diagnosed with PCOS,” Khyt shares. “I wanted to highlight the experiences and challenges of women like me—and to spread awareness for those unfamiliar with this hormonal imbalance.”
And so, with hands that had once hesitated, she sculpted resilience into being.
Her exhibit, a series of mixed media relief sculptures, uses her exact height as the anchor—making each piece an extension of herself, almost like a living diary carved into space. The figures are faceless, reminding us that the weight of invisible struggles often cannot be read from a smile or a glance.
The visual language she builds is layered and symbolic. Vanda orchids—vivid, tender, stubbornly alive—sprout through the forms, embodying femininity and the necessity of care. Each phase of the orchid’s life cycle mirrors the stages of coping with PCOS:
Pagbuhi (Seed Germination) as the harsh emergence of physical symptoms,
Pagtubo (Vegetative Growth) representing the hard work of self-care,
Pagpamulak (Flowering) as a fragile blooming of reproductive health, and
Pagpanapaw (Seed Dispersal) marking the psychological toll—the unseen battles.
“The petals, the leaves, the orchid pods—these represent the years since I and others were diagnosed,” Khyt explains, every detail breathing with quiet significance.
To build the powerful textures behind her figures, Khyt used patching compound mixed with semi-gloss latex. The background’s swirling, deliberate lines—strong, sometimes chaotic—are more than just design; they’re emotions set free. The subjects themselves, painstakingly shaped from epoxy, emerge from the background like survivors breaking through the noise.
“Through my work, I strive to give form to the unseen and voice to the unheard,” Khyt says, her words steady but deeply felt. “Art becomes my language—one that speaks for those still silenced by their circumstances.”
For women living with PCOS, whose experiences are too often dismissed or misunderstood, Khyt’s work stands as a bold, luminous offering: You are seen. You are heard.
When asked how the journey of creating her thesis changed her, Khyt smiles, a mix of triumph and reflection.
“For almost two years I was planning this—from research to sketches, and now, finally, it’s real, hanging there on the wall,” she says. “My teacher even said if I hadn’t made this thesis, they wouldn’t have really understood that this kind of diagnosis existed for women. That comment meant a lot. It means my art made a difference.”
In the end, Khyt’s thesis is not just an exhibition. It’s a promise. A seed. A powerful reminder that art—when rooted in truth—can bloom into change.