One of the first things noticeable about Vincent de Pio’s works is that they all seem rooted in Japanese culture.
Then it eventually becomes apparent that, beyond all the heavy textures and intricate details, it may not be entirely Japanese at all.
Vincent de Pio (b. 1979) has always been recognized for his works that heavily feature a notable eastern aesthetic. There’s the sumo wrestlers grappling, the dainty geishas, the iconic anime characters, and the samurais in their proud magnificence. There’s a hint of Japanese fascination defining the canvas. Even his expressionistic brushstrokes are evident of a wabisabi practice–an appreciated mistake, all accumulated to embody a seemingly intentional narrative. De Pio’s works, however, are never just a singular character left clinging on to the ideals of the east.
Take the piece Heiwa Ga HoshinaraSenso No Junbi O (If You Want Peace, Prepare for War) for instance. It’s dark and ominous rendering pierce through the samurai helmet’s emptiness and cast a silent threat. De Pio maximizes the five-foot wide canvas by creating a seemingly symmetrical outlay–the crazed crows on either side gravitating to a central point which are adorned by a crest-like dragon in offence. The colors are controlled with only modest shades of reds and faint swathes of yellow. They are all limited and clarified to a point where one can see the ingenious amount of focus by the artist. There was no sense of freedom in the subject as the weight of the samurai’s helmet and its lack of identity are pushed towards its thirst to serve.
For the artist, however, the liberation was inevitable; as if he granted himself his own freedom to choose, to navigate and to plot where everything begins and ends.
Here, he sheds light on the universality of his works, where their recognizable Japanese traits are only secondary. And that his freedom to be able to resonate and retell their stories in his own free voice is the first one. The fascination is only the by-product of his journey, as if it wasn’t intentional to reimagine the foreign culture at all.
Somehow, de Pio portrays himself as the audience instead of the creator. Much like the philosophy of ikigai, he suggests looking at what we are passionate about in the plethora of details he presented, and only gravitating to those that matter. “Before, I wanted to put a lot of subjects and a lot of colors,” de Pio shares, “but it’s also better to focus on the simplest subject matters and just enhance it.” While recognizing what is and is not needed is important, de Pio also muses that challenging oneself to get a sense of clarity of why these certain factors are or are not needed is likewise equally as essential.
This shift in philosophy can be seen by comparing certain thematic similarities present in Koibitoand his Pollination series, as well as in Ai to Aijoand the cumulative set of large painted origami pieces The Lady’s Zori, In Back Nor Bud and The Tragic Tessellations.
They are meditative at one point, narrative in the other; much like how they are Japanese on the surface, and undoubtedly universal in a second glance.
De Pio’s retranslation of ikigai being the first light of the morning nods to the first step of the journey. It is an illumination that one needs to bask under as a go-signal–a filtering light that enhances visions and passions and paves a clearer path for one to find and pursue their true sense of self.
The artist studied in the University of the Philippines Diliman, College of Fine Arts. His upbringing in an artistic family introduced him to anatomy and drawing at an early age.
Endlessly inspired by the aesthetic and mindset of the Japanese, de Pio sees a parallel between his own mind and their complex layers of beauty and chaos.
“Ikigai: The First Light of the Morning” will run until July 23, 2021 at Galerie Stephanie, located at the 4th floor East Wing of Shangri-la Plaza, Mandaluyong.
