Joven Ignacio
Photos courtesy of the artist
I’ve known Jose Ramon Ignacio, Joven to friends and family, from several solo exhibitions ago as early as 2014. At that time, his style reminded me so much of the delicate calado series of another watercolorist, the more senior Araceli “Cheloy” Dans, whom he idolized.
In an early interview with this writer, he said of her influence on him: “I have a lot of respect and truly admire her. She has produced many works that inspire younger artists like me. I don’t think it is appropriate to be compared to a master like her. It is best that I work very hard to produce a body of work that is representative of one’s vision. Skills in art are a responsibility. We have to explore this for the right purpose.”
Work very hard he has done to the point that he often wishes aloud that he could leave his architecture practice soon so he could devote full time to painting. I can identify with that wish. I’ve saved so many images of food, flowers, pots and pans and other still life scenes in my computer and phone for the day I will sit down to paint with brush, sticks and acrylic colors. What has kept me away from my passion for painting are writing deadlines, largely self-imposed, and cultural volunteer work. With Joven, I surmise, he has to have a steady livelihood to provide for himself and his family. Architecture is It then.
‘Liwliwa’, 18”x12” inches
Meanwhile, he has branched out from purely watercolor-on-paper works to a process that involves what he calls Composited Stone Panels of Gluing.
The Chinese, who originated this technology, use Stone Water jet craft and Stone Composited Technology. The stones are sourced all around the world, which makes Joven’s latest works in Ginukit (combination of ginuhit for drawn to ukit for carved), opening on Nov. 20 at Ayala Museum’s ArtistSpace, Greenbelt 5, Makati City, of a precious kind since they involve semi-precious stones some of which are placed as the eyes of the fauna.
He said he has “leveled up in materials by exploring stones. My practice as an architect gave me ideas on exploring these semi-precious stones. This has been done in China where the stones are mostly available. The leftover pieces I used in line with efforts to conserve these materials. I painted first, then translated the works into the new medium. This may be the first time it is done in the world so my works have proprietary value.”
‘Inayan’, 40”x30” inches
Joven continued, “This combination of media has never been explored before. The novelty is that we can slice through the stone very thinly so the effect can be translucent. When raised to the light, you can see the intrinsic value of the materials.”
He happened on this process during his work as an architect. “I am always looking for materials for construction. While I was attending a stone convention in China, I latched on to the concept of mixing painting with stone. There’s a word for it—jigstone, like a jigsaw puzzle.”
‘Haplos’, 18”x12” inches
His architecture background puts him in touch not only with the latest in the construction world but also with how he sees colors. He said, “I have always been interested in the science side of my vocation which is architecture. Light has a lot to do with how we perceive colors. How this bounces off surfaces, reflectance, transmittance, illumination, etc. All of these properties affect how the human eye perceives what we see in nature. Colors change when the light source emits either cool or warm tones. There is a lot to understand and learn from science, and I am lucky to have been exposed to brilliant minds when I was still in the academic circle. Perhaps this is also the reason I am enamored with the prospects of exploring a new medium in art.”
As for his fascination with flora, the roots go back to Joven’s childhood when, as the fifth of eight children, his task was to care for a 20-25 square meter-garden. He recalled laughingly, “Ginawa akong hardinero ng nanay ko (My mother made a gardener out of me). When I was 12, I could make a tiger orchid bloom to as many as 150 flowers.” So much so that when he was being assessed for a career after high school, the results showed that he would be happy becoming a gardener!
He settled for management engineering. In his early college, his family lived in Paco, Manila, a long drive to the Ateneo. This was in the ’70s; a house was being built in nearby Loyola Heights, but the family ran out of funds for the construction so “we took over,” Joven recalled. “We straightened out the bent nails, among other things.”
His father Jesus understood that Joven had an artist’s streak, so when the son complained, “natutunaw ulo ko sa calculus (my brain is melting from calculus),” the father acted before the young man could become further depressed. Jesus and Joven went to the University of the Philippines College of Fine Arts to inquire about a possible transfer.
But Joven was shocked at the looks of the fine arts students—they wore chains, had pink hair or wore the tomahawk style and sported tattoos. He said, “I wanted to be among more normal kids so my father took me to the College of Architecture where I was accepted.”
In 1987, he became a licensed architect and taught architecture for 15 years at UP. While doing his Ph.D. studies abroad, he was asked to come home immediately, thus forfeiting his scholarship, because his father suffered a stroke and was hospitalized. While being the watcher or bantay, he turned to sketching and artmaking.
‘Abegail’, 18”x12” inches
To this day he said he is “happy to be able to merge art and architecture, but you should know about my insecurity about my art. I don’t know if it is acceptable or not. Then I realize that I cannot please everybody. What is important is I am happy, and people pick up my joy.”
The exhibition Ginukit will run until Dec. 3, 2025.
