By Jt Nisay
There’s no object or sight too everyday for the divergent perspective of Jun-Jun Sta. Ana. For him—a visual artist who makes use of materials and images deemed ordinary, and presents it in ways that are anything but—everything is something.
He made his introduction in the art scene with a show that centered on images from free porn sites and elements of the local amulet, or anting-anting, layered with low-resolution digital pictures that he digitally drew and painted on. In a 2013 exhibit, called Autobiography, he presented a collection of 125 compelling photographs of day-to-day stories from different places, taken on an iPhone 4s.
Sta. Ana said in a recent interview that in presenting the viewer with familiar sights through new eyes, he works on the materials’ identity-and-perception relationship. “I use texts and symbols and labels on the former, as words and letters alter the perception of the viewer depending on the ‘programming’ of the individual.”
Replication is another method he employs, where the use of a single image as a design element allows him to form a larger composition when multiplied, so it becomes an entirely different thing.
But beyond techniques, he said he allows his subjects and materials, which he calls “finds,” to shine. “A piece I’m working on continues to evolve until I feel it’s finished and, like ikebana, I allow the materials to dictate the direction the work takes.”
Sta. Ana is a self-taught visual artist who defines his process as reactionary and instinctive—the same words that can also be used to describe his journey into the world of arts.
He grew up in a family of dentists and becoming an artist was far from what he had planned for himself, even though the qualities of one were already there. In fact, it wasn’t until Sta. Ana hit his late 30s when he took his artistic inclinations seriously, following his first opportunity to showcase his works.
“I remember being really observant and sensitive to the beauty of colors, forms, textures and materials, even as a kid,” he said. From admiring the Sun-Maid raisin lady to appreciating flowers and staring at faces and eyes with wonder, Sta. Ana said, “The interest in finding beauty in everything started early, but there was never really any thought to becoming an artist.”
The most involvement he had with the arts back then was his interest in philately (the collection and study of postage stamps) and numismatics (the study or collection of currency) in grade school.
Later, he discovered the wonders of decoration, leading to a career of window installations and, in due course, photography, where he always took shots using his smartphone.
Much like his out-of-the-box works, Sta. Ana has also stepped outside his own and continues to expand his artistic career.
“I used to define my practice as being purely digital, but I’ve evolved into other things [both 2D and 3D], while still sometimes using digital elements, through my association to the Association of Pinoyprintmakers, formerly known as the Printmaking Association of the Philippines. ”
Given Sta. Ana’s artistic perception of objects and sceneries—no matter how late his discovery of the skill and pledge to the craft are—it should come to no surprise that if he’s asked whether a glass is half-empty or half-full, he answers with a compliment of the table the cylinder sits on.