IT HAS always been a dream for everyone to turn a hobby into something we can earn a living from -- it is risky, costly and unsure. Few people today can dare to endure the future risks of giving up the chances to work and taking another bachelor's degree to learn in depth knowledge on a hobby. But this bold step was taken by John Wendell Villoria.
As an architecture graduate in Far Eastern University (FEU), John had spent four years creating the street art called "graffiti." Originally, he wanted to enroll Fine Arts in FEU but his mother felt hesitance, so they agreed to enroll him in Architecture and proceed to Fine Arts after graduating. Villoria was passionate for his course and was the best thesis awardee when he graduated. However, his enthusiasm and passion for street art and other forms of art waned. He is a native Cebuano and after finishing Architecture, University of the Philippines Cebu was his first and clear choice.
In early 2011, John started using the name NARK, which is a street slang for "narcotics agent." His graffiti works "exposes the mask that every person wears every day, like narcotics agent, every person has a hidden agenda deep inside and I want to expose that out," he says. Currently, he focuses more on letter construction.
Graffiti for passers is a colorful yet hideous for its bizarre and uneasy to understand kind of art. In an urban cityscape, graffiti has been an art through vandalism.
This spray-painted art on streets has been a nuisance for many but others has been accepting this form of art as a colorful way to convey message of self-expression.
There are countless purposes of art, John says. Aside from having wide walls as canvas, it is free. "You don't have to go to galleries to experience art," John says. Art is everywhere and graffiti art is a "nice alternative to billboards and all those political ads you see in streets," he added.
With no fixed income and unsure life after graduation, how could John sustain himself in the future?
It is easy, he concedes, with proper management of resources, selfless outlook on art and disregarding fame and achievements, he can cope well. It helps that he has friends with the same vision on art; art first before money. John and his friends like Jason Bacunador, a UP Cebu graduate of Certification on Fine Arts, is always there for him. Moreover, it is Jason who helps John color the streets of Cebu City with graffiti artworks.
John admits he doesn't know everything about art. "I also paint on canvas and I'm currently experimenting on oil paints," he says. John lost count of the number of walls he painted. "Maybe 20 plus since 2011? I am not exactly sure."
When asked about his plans, whether he'll do graffiti all his life, he has this to say: "Graffiti for the rest of my life? Why not?" Though he's planning to take the architecture licensure exam after graduating from Fine Arts, he thinks he'll pursue a career in both.
According to John, to anyone sensationalizing and contemplating the same fate, "Follow your Passion." He earns nothing with the art like graffiti but he insists, "Graffiti is a free art so enjoy it! It makes our streets more colorful." (Romae Chanice B. Marquez)