Mallari cites her childhood years during the Philippines' Martial Law Period and the tumultuous period following the removal of the Marcos administration as formative experiences which had given her a need to engage and participate in society through her art[3] by the time she started taking up her bachelor's degree at University of the Philippines Diliman's College of Fine Arts.[5]
At UP, Mallari became part of Grupong Salingpusa, a group of young student artists which would later become significant voices in the Philippine contemporary art movement,[3] including such figures as Elmer Borlongan, Karen Flores and Manny Garibay.[2]
She also became part of Artista ng Bayan (ABAY), a volunteer group that practiced social activism by coming up with the murals and effigies which were used in street rallies.[3]
A subset of Grupong Salingpusa, consisting of Mallari, Borlongan, Flores, Mark Justiniani, and Federico Slevert, later came together to form the Sanggawa Art Collective in 1994.[4][5]
The death of her mother forced Mallari to take a leave of absence from UP in order to work full-time and support her family. Borlongan referred her to a newly opened animation company, where she found herself working on background animation alongside early pioneers in the Philippine animation industry, and some of the last generation of Philippine billboard artists. Mallari would later cite this period as an important learning experience, with the influence of animation resurfacing in her later works.[3]
In the late '90s, Mallari moved to Los Angeles temporarily, living there for eight[5] years before she returned to the Philippines in 2006.[3]
According to Mallari, this expatriate period heightened her awareness race politics and the underrepresentation of minorities in the arts.[3]
Upon returning to the Philippines, Mallari became based in Parañaque City,[5] on the southern part of the Philippines' National Capital Region.
