A colorful childhood, literally
Villena was born in Batangas, Philippines, on August 08, 1999, to a long line of family of artists. His father, grandfather, and cousins are artists, and even since then a part of him always knew that he was going to pursue the arts.
As early as 4 years old, Villena began to draw. He would closely watch his father working and his interest piqued - he would start to copy the paintings and banners of his father's making. Living in a household of artists would be as if living in an artist studio as Villena would grow up spending hours studying his grandfather’s sketchbooks and his father’s techniques for illustrating portraits, painting picturesque landscapes, and timeless still lives.
Villena’s first debut in the art scene was in 2008 when he started joining art competitions. He first bagged a title at the tender age of 8 years old which would soon become the first of the many titles he would win. His focus then was journalism, particularly editorial cartooning which proves to be pivotal in his making as an artist. This instilled in him the value of using art to highlight complex societal and political issues.
In 2011, Villena became a student and artist scholar at the Batangas Province High School for Culture & Arts, a school honing select young talents across the province. He studied Visual Arts and the vibrant artistic environment in the school further solidified his career path. This is where Villena started to hone his versatility in different mediums spanning from pencils to watercolors to oil paints.
Making his mark
Villena’s talent did not go unnoticed. In 2016, he received a presidential scholarship from the top art and design school iACADEMY where he studied Animation. Coming from a background of traditional art, Villena learned and got the best of both worlds of traditional and digital art.
He also steadily made a name for himself after bagging awards in renowned art competitions. For that same year, the 18-year-old artist was hailed the “Manila Bulletin’s Choice Award’’ for his artwork during the MB Sketch Fest 2018. Adding to his laurels is being awarded the second place winner in the Watercolor category and finalist in Oil Category at the 51st Shell National Student Arts Competition - a much-anticipated art competition in the country where past winners include revered National Artists “BenCab,” and “Ang Kiukok,” as well as art pillars Juvenal Sanso, Jose Joya, Leeroy New, and Rodel Tapaya, to name a few. He was later on included in an article featured by ABS-CBN with a foretelling title “These students may be PH next art masters”.
A play of chiaroscuro
As opportunities arose, so did Villena’s personal struggles during his young adult life. The years of different struggles from his childhood to young adult life caught up with him and led to the most trying and dark period of his life. By mid-2019, he was battling his own depression. Because of this, he took a hiatus from sharing his artworks on social media and continued to work quietly by participating in group exhibitions, and appearing in art talks for different universities, museums, and organizations.
In retrospect, this dark phase allowed him to discover more about himself, his art style, and most importantly for an artist, the message he wants to convey from his artworks.
Villena’s work and style were generally associated with realism. However, Villena will soon veer away from realism to develop his own art style characterized by strange, ragged lines, disheveled words, distorted figures, and images. A multilayered art style that depicts the themes of demise, depression, longing, religion, and cries for hope.
Suffice it to say the subjects of his artworks are as dark and raw as it becomes, the style as messy and complex as the emotions call for. But making these artworks was freeing for the artist. Together with the unpleasant, the jarring and the negative emotions which rarely make the cut to what is art- Villena is sure that he has now found his art style.
As of date, the 24-year-old artist is now in New York to prepare for the debut of his first solo show “Apollo Street”.
