MIGUEL & ME: the story of a late bloomer and her violin May 17, 2012

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When I want something, I try to do something about it.

So when I was asked what musical instrument do I want to rock out in my next life, I said the violin.

And so as not to waste time, I got meself one and baptized it Miguel.

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So while teaching some kids from the community in Zambales how to make their own documentary,

these kids were also teaching me how to play the violin.

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JULIAN AT 5 years old
(found this image on the internet, ain’t he a cutie

JULIAN at 12

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Julian Duque was my first teacher. He was actually the one who let me experience how it is to hold a violin. It was during this moment that I felt this connection with the instrument. Naks! He was also the one who gave in to our request for a concerto. He played so well he made our hearts swell, haha rhyme! But really, he is fun to watch and a joy to listen to. This kid has so much to offer… There’s so much inside of him and he’s just bursting with all this energy that is affecting everybody who watches him. This boy is gonna go places, with a gift like his, I want to be just like him in my next life

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This is Miguel, yep he’s got the same name as my violin  He was the one who taught me how to do the musical scales properly. He also taught me the 4th variation of  twinkle, twinkle little star, the first piece that I learned. I asked him when can I do the vibrato, he said anytime Haha, easy for him to say, he started playing the violin at the age of 3!!!

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This is now my regular teacher, Remed, he is actually more strict compared to them. Some say he’s the bad boy of the group, must be the bangs but to me he is an effective teacher. I mean, I can now properly play the violin, aruruteynkyu to him, and I’m actually on my 8th piece already, so he must be doing something right  I told him I prefer faster pieces to play but he told me that I need to go through the musical scales first and that I need to do it correctly. Yes sir-ee!

I just watched his solo performance last weekend at Casa and boy was he a delightful surprise! I didn’t know he was that good! He gave a heart-wrenching performance, everybody in the theater felt his passion and emotion. I am a proud student, bravo teacher Remed!!!

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These kids (kids because I’m much older than them!) all started out in Casa San Miguel and is part of the Pundaquit Virtuosi. They were all trained by no other than the world-renowned violinist, Coke Bolipata. Now, they play alongside him and in fact headed to Europe (Paris-Rome-Venice) this June  for a concerto. Halukatdat!

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I watched them perform at Casa San Miguel’s theater hall and I was just in awe. Every note they played tugged my heartstrings. It was also my first time to watch Sir Coke perform and I just wanted to cry. I hear what he’s been saying about art exponents in music. During a conversation before their performance, he mentioned that we will hear some movements of impressionism & pointillism and I really saw it painted by his violin…

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I feel that it’s never too late to learn something new…

So here I am at 35 trying to learn how to play the violin from these child prodigies.

Hopefully in my next life, I will be as great as them, but for now I will rock out my version of Twinkle, twinkle…

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*** performance video of the virtuosi to follow

http://theartofeveryday.wordpress.com/2012/03/20/what-a-weekend-casa-san-miguel/

ART IN THE PARK 2012 February 13, 2012

UNIQUE EDITION handmade and (some) hand-colored PHOTO COLLAGEs

exhibited in the Philippines, Hong Kong and France

will be on sale along with other works from the 10A ALABAMA family

at ART IN THE PARK from 2 to 12 PM.

KITAKITS!!!

SNIPPETS of INSPIRATION September 12, 2011

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“You have to find your voice…

Sing out loud so you can be heard. “

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Mannix or Emmanuel Santos in the international art scene, was in town and we agreed to meet up in Place de l’Opera. It was sunny and I didn’t mind waiting a bit at the footsteps of the Paris Opera Garnier. I watch the tourists taking photos of the grandiose architecture, some were eating sandwiches while the others were just soaking in the sun.

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“Always think of the big picture… Your works should be eternal.

50 years from now, people should be able to look at your work and think that it is still good.”

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I met Mannix some years back at a friends place in Manila. I didn’t know then that he was a fine art photographer, he asked me what I do and through my friends prodding, I showed Mannix some of my handmade photo collages and hand-colored photos from my very first exhibit entitled tRIP (To Rest In Peace).

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“Exhibiting for the sake of recall is not important, you have to come out with shows that are really good. 

Shows that will echo and resonate throughout.”

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hand painting an edition for his PASSING OF LIGHT exhibition

He said he mixes his own pigments and hand-paints his photographs as well. When I saw his works, I was just floored. Hiya naman ako sa mga gawa ko. I told him I should have just kept my talent hidden, hehehe.

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Flash forward to Paris… Mannix & I are walking around Palais Royal, catching up, sipping coffee at this famous café in Place Colette, exchanging, him sharing and me absorbing…

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“You are lucky to be here, surrounded by all these inspirations.

Go out, learn and discover…”

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“Surround yourself with people who can and who will criticize you,

that’s the only way you will learn, evolve and develop.”

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After we parted ways, I had to be by myself  to collect my thoughts and write down these snippets of inspiration. Found a café near the place where I was supposed to meet A’s dad later for a vernissage. I ordered dessert, I continued writing, slowly chewing everything that he said. . .

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“You are still young, you’ll get there.”

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images shot in Paris

tRIP photo collages & hand-colored photos (¤2005) by JK

images of Emmanuel Santos at his Troika Studio in Melbourne, stolen from his FB page (hope you understand )

HAUSBESETZER LABORATORY July 15, 2011

This was an article I wrote for my class, pardon my french, it still needs a lot of work. We were asked to write a news article about anything, some wrote about politics and one wrote about the weather and me, I wrote about Hausbesetzer

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Arurumerci A for the lay-out

the gods must be crazy June 25, 2011

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No one knows who she is.  Or where she has come from.

Or why everyday, she comes to this same spot, in the middle of the road right in front of the Sagada Lemon Pie House, sweeping the already pristine concrete with the leaves of a freshly snapped-off tree branch.

 

 

No one knows all these things except for the old woman herself. Those who know of her have long passed away, buried along with the heritage of a place, and of beings that have first treaded its soil.

 

 

The legend begins with rain, washing down to earth the Sky Gods’ two children named Wigan and Bugan. The siblings were Ifugao’s first dwellers, who populated the province with their offspring. Oh, such familial relations were common in those days. Incest was a thing of the future.

 

 

Wigan was the people’s God of harvest. With his faithful wife Bugan, he fattened the Sky Mountains’ soil, ensuring that their earthen steps teemed with crops. His was the name most uttered by farmers, who strove to please Wigan with sacrifice, chants and prayers.

 

 

But as the years passed, people started to forget—the ancients, their origins, and even their own identity. Wigan and his fellow gods weakened, for their powers relied on the people’s belief. One by one, away they faded.

 

Only Bugan now remained. As to why she survived, she could only hazard this guess: she was meant to look after her husband Wigan— whose remains lay beneath the thick concrete in the middle of the road.

 

 

Everyday while she sweeps and weeps over her husband’s grave, she offers a silent prayer to the Sky Gods to allow her to join her husband, to take her away from this strange place, inhabited by strange people who believe in even stranger gods.

 

 

Onlookers dismiss her as a crazy, old woman.

Still, Bugan is convinced that they are the crazy ones, deigning to conceal the rich soil, covering life itself with cold, hard cement—an offering to yet another one of their modern gods that choke the air and pollute the silence while walking, not on feet, but on wheels.

 

 

Story by AGAY LLANERA - REYES and Sagada Images by JK (Jazel Kristin)

Writer’s Link: http://agayandspanky.blogspot.com/

copyright 2011

 

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I’ve been wanting to collaborate with kindred spirits here on The Art of Everyday and so finally the series of ARTISTIC COLLABORATIONs happened. The Gods Must Be Crazy is a story especially written for this by Agay Llanera-Reyes, a freelance writer for print and video and also a children’s book writer (The Gathering, SOL, Song of the Ifugao & Girl meets Girl included in Bagets, an anthology for young adults).

Agay and I have travelled around the Philippines and abroad together. She has actually celebrated some of my orbital journeys with me from Batanes to China and then Paris and most recently to Sagada.  We saw this old woman, a very interesting character, during our walk. I tried to photograph her without noticing me and Agay wondered aloud what could be her story. Hence the birth of this collaboration…

Agayskee, it’s always great to hang out with you and also aruruteynkyu for always sharing your gift. I always say I write with images but you have this gift with words

 

 

Featured Filipino Artist: ROBERT ALEJANDRO May 26, 2011

 

I used to worry about uncomfortable silences or what I call dead-air (a television term). Like you meet somebody for the first time and you don’t know what you will talk about and then s i l e n c e . . . When I found out I was shooting in Hapao for The Probe Team with Robert, I had to think of possible topics we can talk about when I will meet him for the first time. (Yes, I was weird like that.) That was more than 10 years ago, all I remember now is that there were definitely no uncomfortable silences just instant connection.

I’ve known him as an artist / reporter / backpacker / kindred spirit / kid at heart who sketches anywhere and whoever. ROBERT ALEJANDRO has this way of disarming people and breaking the barrier with his pen and paper…

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China

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TELL US WHAT YOU DO?

I draw. I paint. I design. I create and stuff like that.

DO YOU HAVE A DAY JOB? HOW DO YOU SUPPORT YOUR ART?

Nope. My design / art job is what sustains me - I do a LOT of work to make a living

papemelroti greeting cards

HOW DID YOU DISCOVER YOUR TRUE CALLING? WHEN WAS THE EXACT MOMENT YOU REALIZED THAT THIS IS WHAT YOU REALLY WANT TO DO?

There wasn’t an “exact moment”. I’ve ALWAYS drawn ever since I can remember – my earliest memory of drawing was scratching drawings on my moms’ furniture!!!! I just “found” myself doing what came naturally to me.

WHAT DID YOU GO THROUGH TO GET IT?

I just kept doing it day in and day out. I guess it helped that we had a family business (papemelroti) which encouraged me to create and draw and paint (to create products to sell – which I still do to this very day).

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Sartorialist Sketches

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WHAT DIFFERENTIATES YOUR ART FROM THE REST?

I honestly don’t know. I guess the answer to that is “me”. I know I do ALL KINDS of art and my styles have a whole range too – which isn’t very good for “marketing” myself (you have to have a specialty) but the truth is, this is what I like to do - I really enjoy doing a LOT of things, a range of things. Does this make me “unmarketable”? – Maybe but more importantly, this is what makes me happy. This is who I really am. I would not want to limit myself to a “particular style / genre” just so that I become more “marketable”.

WHAT’S YOUR STYLE AND WHAT ARE YOUR THEMES?

Oh truth is, you (the viewer of my art) will have to figure that out. I am too busy creating, enjoying, designing to even think about what am i doing! Most people who know me throughout the years “know” what my style is. They can’t really put it into words but they know (this is what they tell me).

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DO YOU HAVE A RITUAL THAT YOU DO BEFORE YOU START THE CREATION? SHARE WITH US YOUR PROCESS?

It involves a lot of THINKING. The thinking is way before I sit to do the actual artwork. I keep thinking. I think EVERYWHERE (MRT / waiting @ clients offices / while eating etc.)! This actually explains why I can wait for someone for 2 or 3 hours – it is because I spend the time THINKING and designing and creating and visualizing in my head. Then I make small doodles. I need to bring a small notebook or a pad & a pen everywhere. In my head, I start organizing how am I going to create this art – this art could be a drawing / painting / sculpture / digital art etc. etc.

And so when I actually sit down (sometimes on a chair / most times on the floor), the creation doesn’t take too long. I know exactly what I would like to do.

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Great wall of China

 

WHY DO YOU TRAVEL?

When I was younger, our family used to travel together (mababa pa dollar nu’n) – these were precious times. I thought when you travelled, you need to have a lot of money (our family would stay in hotels). Recently, I discovered backpacking (Southeast Asia in 2007, Europe in 2010)! I didn’t need a lot of money to travel – this was LIBERATING!!!!!

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Spain

 

WHAT DOES IT DO TO/FOR YOU?

Travel does SO much! It sounds like a cliché but it’s true – it’s LEARNING about SO many things! Learning about yourself (I learned what truly makes me happy (SO important a lesson) – which has nothing to do with money (sometimes I still forget this lesson). What makes me happy? – creating art.

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Holocaust Memorial

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HOW DOES IT AFFECT YOUR ART?

Traveling is learning to fend for yourself, learning to take things as they come, learning to make the right decisions and SO SO much more. I encourage EVERY Filipino to travel and again I say, it doesn’t need a lot of money but more of time and courage. And we should all be courageous!

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teaching Art to kids with Leukemia

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WHAT IS IT THAT YOU WANT TO SAY THROUGH YOUR ART? 

I guess it depends on which “art” I am creating. Some of my art, I know I want people to enjoy it (I used to design theme parks). Some of my art, I want people to feel good (most of my papemelroti art is this way). Sometimes I just want to create (my drawings during my travel). All sorts of things I guess.

WHAT FASCINATES YOU AND HOW DOES IT INFLUENCE WHAT YOU DO?

ALMOST everything fascinates me! Some people have said that I have not lost my sense of wonder - I guess that isn’t such a bad thing is it? I am a very curious person and I always enjoy learning new things (I love attending workshops). I guess with this “sense of wonder”, I almost never get bored with what I do. I am almost always excited about creating.

WHAT INSPIRES YOU TO CONTINUE DOING WHAT YOU DO?

There is SO much art to do and create! How can I possibly stop? I think I will be creating and learning till I DIE!

Singapore

Hanoi, Vietnam

 

WHERE DO YOU WANT TO BRING YOUR ART?

ABSOLUTELY EVERYWHERE! But, it’s alright if I just do my little drawings on a street corner – that makes me happy too

WHAT DREAM DO YOU STILL WANT TO FULFILL?

I have too many dreams! What I need to do is focus and simplify. Too many dreams might lead to disappointments  and negativity – that I don’t need.

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WHAT IS THE ART OF EVERYDAY FOR YOU?

That is a tough one.

The art of everyday for me is doing the BEST you can and enjoying that moment.

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LINKS:

http://robertalejandro.lens.ph/

http://raadesign.com/

RETURN to NEVERLAND May 1, 2011

 

view from Villa Romana

windows installation by Mark Tandoyog

bridge installation by Rene Aquitania

(l-r) ferdie balanag, kawayan de guia, rene aquitania

bamboo installation by Rishab

Kawayan de Guia's ukay-ukay tent built with the help of Baguio Volunteers

blind weaver

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Baguio is my Neverland

Inhabited by colorful creatures like Tinker Bell and Peter Pan 

Fairy dusts and Happy thoughts all around

A place where I learned how to fly and never land…

 

Fil-Canadian Artist Jen Maramba

spontaneous connection art exhibition initiated by Jen

 

musician Lirio Salvador

I CONSUME THERFORE I AM video & live performance in Baguio

  

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My video “I consume Therefore I am” was also shown first time in the Philippines, during this event.

My deepest gratitude to all the artists and musicians who collaborated and made it all possible…

(Musicians: Mark Zero, Armi Millare of Up Dharma Down, Shant Verdun, Elemento)

 

Images shot during the Axis International Arts Festival & Ipitik festival in Baguio City. 

 

 

featured artist: DEX FERNANDEZ April 27, 2011

 

I was somewhere I’m not sure exactly where but I was leafing through this old issue of a cool local magazine (ROGUE Magazine) when I saw this image of a woman vandalized with sketches and tattoos… The image was soooo striking that I had to do the unthinkable… I kept the magazine for myself, tsk tsk tsk (Kids, don’t try this at all!).  I don’t know why I’m confessing this deed but this is actually how I discovered our featured Pinoy Artist… ang makulit at astig na si DEX FERNANDEZ.

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Tell us what you do

Fulltime Painter, freelance Illustrator and Graphics Artist kapag may raket.

 

album cover for Severo

Patay Tayo Jan shirt and cd

 

How did you discover your true calling? When/what was the exact moment you realized that this is what you really want/have to do?

Before Graphics Artist ako sa isang small time na advertising/printing company somewhere in Quezon City, pero kasabay nun active pa rin ako nagpaparticipate sa mga local art exhibition, usually underground scene, hirap makasali sa mainstream eh, di maiwasan ang politika hehe…

Then after 1 year sa corporate company, nag-abroad ako with may college barkada sa Saudi Arabia (hahaha) para magpinta ng mga pader ng mga nagtataasang bahay palasyo ng isang mayamang angkan doon, culture shock kami pero adventure dun… At laking tulong sa amin para makapag-invest sa maraming bagay, pera, gamit, kaibigan at connections.

Then after 1 year umuwi kami at di nag-decide na wag na bumalik ng S.A. at dito nagsimula ako at ang isa ko pang kaibigan na i-pursue na yung hilig namin buhay, yung ay ang mag-ART hehehe.

 

What did you go through to get it?

Hmm… it’s a long process, pero ito yung pinaka-palasak at cliché na maririnig mo “sipag at tyaga” at saka “party at trabaho” haha.

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"Hey Idol How Ya Doin" handpainted sculptures

 

 

What differentiates your art from the rest?

Maraming unique ang art at marami rin halos similar when it comes to style…pero sa akin masasabi kong gusto kong gawin yung mga bagay na hindi pa siguro sinusubok gawin ng ibang mga kasama natin sa industriyang ito… Gusto ko kasi yung matapang, bold, straightforward in a way pero may subliminal thoughts, humorous pero sarcastic, at moody, na masasabi kong nagrereflect sa pagiging ako.

What’s your style and what are your themes?

I’m talking about everything, no specific theme or concept. Just one idea, to play with found memories or thoughts and it’s deconstruction in a transformative appropriation… To reconstruct or recreate a story based on my own opinion and to disect the layers of its existence.

 

Do you have a ritual that you do before you start the creation? Share with us your process…

Hmmm I can say na siguro part of my ritual is yung lumabas muna ng studio ko, makipag-usap at kuwentuhan sa mga kaibigan, and once maramdaman ko na yung salitang “inspirasyon” dun na ko babalik sa cave ko at mag-start na sa work ko. Doon walang TV, walang internet, laptop lang para sa music. Nakatalikod ang mga orasan, liwanag lang mula sa bintana ang magsasabi kung anong panahon na.

What is it that you want to say through your art?

Anything and everything, story of yours, story of him and her, story of mine. An opinion and open-ended discussion…

 

How has your artworks evolved into what it is now?

Before my style is like pop surreal, I paint acrylic on canvas with surreal and whimsical charaters, and tells a story of everything … Pero dahil sa moody ako, mabilis ako magsawa at mag-stick sa isang style, at gusto ko lagi nag-iisip na makabagong stuff na pwede kong paglaruan at i-explore… Gradually na-reach ko yung style na ginagawa ko ngayon.

What fascinates and inspires you? And how does it influence what you do?

I am fascinated by every weird thing that I find in my surroundings and the unusual stories that I think are inspirational to me… I actually put them together, then it influences me to put it in my creation (haha).

 

 

Where do you want to bring your Art? What is its past, present and future?

Ang-tricky nito..hehe… Siguro present and future inspired by the past events / happenings.

 

"Dog of Plunder" handdrawings on vintage postcard

 

What dream do you still want to fulfill?

Marami, pero eto yung top 5 wish list ko….

1. makapag-solo show sa kahit anong bansa sa Europe

2. magkaroon ng studio at mag-base sa Tokyo, Japan

3. magkaroon ng computer shop, malakas ang DOTA sa mga kabataan ngayon

4. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ !(secret) hehehehe

5. eto talaga seryoso to… gusto ko magtayo ng charitable foundation, gusto ko talaga makatulong sa mga kapwa nating kapos e Kasama na dun yung lagyan ng art ang buhay nila. 

 

Dex sketching his Garapata character

 

What keeps you going? What keeps you doing what you do?

Everything that inspires me.  Kapag nawala ang inspirasyon, nakakawalang gana magtrabaho. Para sa akin yung inspirasyon laging dalawa ang option; negative and positive; black or white; panget o maganda, alin man dumapo sa akin, eto pa rin ang nagpapatakbo ng kamay, puso at isip ko.

"Die Die my Darling" - the image that made me do it

 

What is the Art of Everyday for you?

The most respectful art for me is to thank our Higher Being for every each of days

that we wake up feeling happy and smiling.

Mysterious but undoubtful…

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ARTIST LINK:

www.dexfernandez.blogspot.com

* images taken from the artist’s FB and Website, with his permission bien sur  

life in the danger zone April 23, 2011

 

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Children frolicking on the shore, while their parents haul in another bountiful catch of fish found only in Taal Lake . It’s an idyllic scene that can now be obliterated in a few moments.

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Taal Volcano is among the world’s most active and dangerous volcanoes, and it is acting up again causing multiple tremors that crack walls clear across the lake to the mainland. Alert Level 2 has been raised by the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology or PHIVOLCS; and the entire volcano island has been declared a permanent danger zone. Hence, authorities have been urging several thousand residents of Volcano Island to evacuate, convinced that the volcano is ready to blow. Yet many refuse to leave, afraid of losing their livelihood.

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Howie Severino and his documentary team enter the danger zone on the island to see what’s at stake. They discover that in addition to the island residents, many live in floating houses on the water surrounding the island and may be even more at risk in case of an eruption.

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The documentarists also learn about the history of Taal ‘s eruptions, visit ruins from past cataclysms, and realize that a major eruption will not only kill many but could rearrange one of the country’s most famous landscapes.

Join Howie Severino as he comes face to face with those who insist on living within the permanent danger zone. April 25, 11:30 pm in I-Witness.

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Images shot during our I-Witness coverage in Batangas City, Philippines

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• Host: HOWIE SEVERINO
• Executive Producer/Writer: ISEL CARINGAL
• Director: JAZEL KRISTIN
• Researcher: LOWELL ALOJADO
• Cameraman: CHRISTIAN CARREON

Q&A with KAWAYAN DE GUIA November 24, 2010

 

I’ve known Kawayan since he was a baby, well okay not really, I first met him and his family through tatay Kidlat’s spaghetti films. 15 years after that first encounter, we had a collaboration of sorts for his exhibit BOMBA which is actually on display until December at the UP Vargas Museum. For this exhibition, I made a video montage that was projected on the wall alongside his jukeboxes and primordial mirror bomb installation that blasts out well-picked music. I wish I was there to see how it all came together but it was actually here in Paris that I finished making the video…

A painter, a performance artist, a photographer, an installation artist, a sculptor, a conceptual artist, a rockstar, a good friend… caucasian looking but very much Pinoy - KAWAYAN DE GUIA is all of this and so much more…

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LILINDOL MUNA BAGO PUPUTOK - outdoor installation, katipunan baguio city

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When did you realize that you are an artist?

Well, I think the word art or artist is such a big word but let us say I was always leaning towards that direction and it was probably one of the only things I excelled in.

What led you to your art now?

One thing leads you to the next thing… In that manner it’s a sort of quest and you are on this journey connecting the dots… At the moment I am very much interested in sound and sound sculptures. Since sound has a way of impacting you directly in comparison to the visual arts.

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KATAS NG PILIPINAS: GOD KNOWS WHO DOES NOT PLAY

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How would you describe your style? What are your themes?

My style? hahahaha STYLE BULOK… As much as possible I try not to limit myself and try any medium or even themes but whether you like it or not there are things that repeats itself… But if you are asking me what themes, I’d basically say I like to tell stories.

Bend that straight line, break that wall, cross that border, we’re all different, don’t compare me, don’t label me, i am what i am…

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Do you have a ritual that you do before you start the creation? Share with us your process…

I think in my case I have a lot of rituals before the work is created during and even perhaps after. I believe in the two forces…black and white, day or night or in and out. I most of the time have to saturate myself outside or in the streets since a lot of my ideas come from there and when I’m so full of it that’s when I get in the studio and turn into some sorta hermit and get it all out.

What is it that you want to say through your art?

Well a lot! But I can’t say one thing in general but for me it’s almost the only way I can keep afloat or live is by going through that process of what we call art-making and I think it’s all about the process. How to get there from point A to point B… Manifesting an idea of course we want to reach out to our audience and try to make an impact or an impression on them and try to make them see things in a different angle, but I also think we have to find new ways of perceiving even conceiving ones art-making to start with. Therefore it does not become the artist on a pedestal saying look at this… here we stand together on the same platform in dialogue. So perhaps the artwork becomes more of a key that opens a door to bigger ideas and issues.

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from the exhibit BORED ON THE FOURTH OF JULY

 

BIYAHENG LANGIT

 

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How has your artworks evolved into what it is now?

As I said before I am very much interested in sound and installation… I also think art practice is becoming more complex than just a painting or a photograph. I see it bleeding into other practices like Anthropology, Medicine or Healing and what not… ART IS JUST THE WAY IT PRESENTS ITSELF TO BE, IN THAT UNCONVENTIONAL MANNER.

What was the best lesson you learnt along the way?

Do what you have to do or in what you believe in… Nothing should stop you… In the end that’s what it’s all about… your voice, your unique personal point of view. BATHALA NA!!! and if you are blessed with the talent utilize it to the fullest, stay true to yourself and stay humble, hahaha.

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Who are your art influences?

Too many to say but locally I’ll mention a handfull – Roberto Villanueva, Kidlat Tahimik, Santiago Bose, Alfredo Juan Aquilizan and Rene Aquitania… In the end good art is good art! If it strikes a cord in you there must be something there.

What fascinates and inspires you? and how does it influence you and your art?

Pretty much everything I am in contact with at the present… Inspiration has an expiration date hahaha and sometimes presents itself in something dark, but I think what really gets me going are deadlines so I can say TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE.

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from the exhibit BOMBA

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Where do you want to bring your art? What is its past, present and future?

I’d like my work to be more interactive, I’d also like it to go to places I’d never expect it to be… I highly believe in the subconscious and I want to understand it myself… So there’s a lot of digging and investigating that I have to do with my art practice.

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THE DE-MYSTIFIED JUKEBOX, UP vargas museum

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What dream do you still want to fulfill?

I have a calling for Mexico, haha.

 

What is the art of everyday for you? 

I think it’s the small things in life and that master in the day to day living.

 

 

 

   

 *** images provided by the artist