How did you teach yourself?
The moment I dreamt of a guy with a banana head, I woke up realizing that being an Artist is what I’m going to be for the rest of my life.
What was your first exhibit like?
It felt great. I never thought that it would be as successful as it was and I definitely didn’t expect my works to being chosen as 3rd out of 6 pieces that stood out during the event. I am very grateful for that first experience.
What is your process like?
The process to create a piece is quite long. It usually takes me 1-2 months. I start with sketching and creating studies to sculpting, Rubber Molding, Resin Casting and then painting the final product.
What was the most valuable thing you learned in art school?
The power of change. Never underestimate anyone. A man can change his life in a day. We are always one day closer to our dreams. Whatever we are doing now could lead us to the change that we’ve been waiting for our entire life.
What is your favorite piece you’ve created?
“Bono” or Banana Man will always be my favorite. If I were Walt Disney, Bono would be my Mickey Mouse. My hope.
What is your favorite piece by another artist?
A piece made by Elmer Borlongan.
Why do you work in the medium that you do?
I am most comfortable working with Resin and it works well with the type of sculptures that i create.
What is your favorite place to create in?
Inside my room. I like to “wonder wall” a lot. It’s a process I do wherein I stare into space while conceptualizing my next pieces.
What inspired you to become an artist?
As a young artist whose journey in life is older and wiser than my age, I came to realize that vulnerability is a constant process of un-layering influences and changes to derive the most naked and simplest of self. But I ask myself, too, “In a world where poverty taught us to be small, violence taught us to be unkind and social media taught us to be selfie, how do we even find our own vulnerable self?”
Understanding how Filipino culture talks so much of heart and hearth, I use the simplest of silhouette that could be every Juan. That in the journey of every Juan, the journey of being vulnerable is always painful and most personal. That even if people can be unkind, you are still expected to be pure and giving. That even if people will try to make you like them, you are still expected to be you and original.
Interestingly, a banana is a cudgel of wisdom about finding your vulnerable but truest self. That for you to find its wholeness, you have to peel the layers thickened by time, grown from a tree of resistance that just generously grows and produces fruits. Regardless of the house that keeps a family sheltered, a banana can always be found in every Filipino home, making its wisdom almost universal and its fruit a great social equalizer.
For us to live, we need to resist, to have the courage to resist, to fight so that good can come. And like a banana, we need to continuously give life that resists, that remains and that is there.
Bono, which means good, is that Juan who thinks like a banana but holds his heart like a moral compass to allow him to search and find the light at the end of the tunnel, while remaining true to his vulnerable self.
