Interview by: Luz Bergersen,
Narratives and photos by: Bong Delfin
I am a silent observer but a radical thinker. But when it comes to pursuing my opposing ideas I am physically and verbally passive. That is why I used art as a platform to voice out my concerns and ideas. Rules are meant to be broken, so with art. A work of art should be free and unbound as a human soul...
Roots and Wings first featured Bong Delfin nine (9) years ago. A lot has happened since then. Bong has moved, lived and worked in several countries, gotten married to Jinky, and has a little son, named Xion! He has kept on working with his art.
RW is proud, excited and pleased to get in touch with Bong again, and share to our readers the views and works of this very talented and passionate young Euro-Pinoy artist,
Bong Delfin currently lives and works in Madrid,Spain.
In 2018, Bong Delfin was named as «Young and Emerging Artist» in Spain.
Bong was born in 1982 in South Cotabato, Philippines; his parents have roots from Capiz and Iloilo. He graduated as an Industrial Engineer in the Philippines, but pursued a career in art after winning the Artist of the Year award in Denmark in 2013. Bong has resided in Denmark, and studied art at the Odense Design Akademie, Denmark.
Bong’s works have been exhibited in the Philippines, Singapore, New York, Denmark, Norway, Germany, France, Spain, Portugal, Monaco, Luxemborg, Belgium, Italy, Austria, Colombia, Mexico.
RW: It has been nine (9) years since we first featured you in Roots&Wings. A lot must have happened. Can you tell us briefly how you have been, and what has been going on with you over the last 9 years?
Bong: A lot has changed. In terms of my artistic philosophy, this has gone through many different directions. My perception about art has changed a lot now compared to when I started. Those brightly-colored, Klimt-inspired works when I started were gone.
HYDRODEEPISM. Midway during the last 9 years I developed a technique and ideology which I called ¨Hydrodeepism¨. It is a bit dark compared to my early works, one critic called it morbid but I think it is my series of works which gained much attention.
Since during the pandemic I stopped producing the series because the process is a bit messy and the lack of accessibility to a much bigger studio refrains me from doing it. Now I am working and exploring different techniques which are convenient for me to work with at home.
From left to right, top to bottom: (1) Untitled, 2019, 65x73cm, Acrylic, spray paint & varnish on canvas, (2) Untitled, 2018, 50x60cm Acrylic, spray paint & varnish on canvas, (3) Holywood 2020, 50x60cm Acrylic, spray paint & varnish on canvas, (4) Drowned in a sea of awful cliches, 2018, 183x133cm Acrylic, spray paint and varnish on canvas
Bong explains «hydrodeepism»: "Hydrodeepism" (hydro deep ism) is a personal ideology, artistic method and a term conceived by the artist from the words "hydro dipping", a traditional technique of printmaking which are commonly known as marbling, swirling, water transfer, etc. This method was used for a thousand of years, it is called "Suminagashi" in Japan and "Ebru" in Turkey. Regardless of the terminology used, the basic idea is by dropping the special paint or pigment on the surface of the water and transferring the aqueous surface design or carefully manipulated patterns to the paper or any material by the process of dipping.
Whilst it is commonly used for its aesthetic and decorative appeal, the artist's interest is only focused on the spontaneity and randomness of the output. Bong Delfin´s main objective is to subvert the old, accessible and almost mass produced practice into something high art and contemporary. The subversion of the technique gave the artist a unique distinction between a painting and printing.
¨Hydrodeepism¨ body of works were done by the contrasting integration of the different techniques like hydro dipping, stenciling, collaging, taping and brush works. It is the artist's idea of portrayal of the daily constraining battles on how a 21st century artist makes and develops artistic ways or ideals that can best represent his generation.
RW: How did the Covid-19 pandemic affect you, has it been a major factor in affecting your life, not just personally but artistically within the last 9 years?
The pandemic has affected all of us. To me it has its downside and benefits. The good thing about the pandemic for me is that I (we) got supported by the Spanish government financially while we cannot go to our day jobs. The lockdown gave me the freedom and time to produce more works. On the contrary, the lockdown also stopped me from traveling to go to the studio everyday, which meant I had to work through a much lesser and inconvenient space at home.
It happens that screen printing was more convenient to work with. It was during the pandemic lockdown that I realized that I am better at printmaking than painting. Since then and over the last 5 years I think I hardly used a brush on my works, so until now, I am exploring different printing methods, linocut, stamping, stenciling and paper cutting. The idea is, as much as possible, to try and create unique and distinct Bong Delfin» marks without the use of a paintbrush.
But to answer your question, In general I think during the lockdown I have been very productive like most artists have been,
Yes. We can often see both printing elements and realistic details in your works. How do you balance these two styles in your work?
Elements of my works were more often based on research. Eighty percent of the work was mostly research. Spending a lot of time reading and finding references are the most agonizing and the key part to my practice. Twenty percent of the composition is mostly random and spontaneous. As soon as I knew the main idea of the work it is easy to choose images to use and prepare the printing plates.I freely used the image repetitively during the process either as the main subject or just a filler to balance the composition.
So researching in depth the topic before I start allows me to draw out connections between the main idea and the random elements that balances the composition, one of these for example is in between the pictographic and typographic languages. The printing elements not only gave contrast and balance but speeds up my process. And again, instead of using a paintbrush I tried to use a palette knife (using stenciling or taping technique) to try to emulate a unique and distinct printing mark.
You have worked and lived in multiple countries. Does cross-cultural experience influence your art? How?
Living with different cultures and beliefs awakes new ideas. Seeing new things by traveling I think is very important for artists. You may not see the whole world but it will push you to research and analyze other beliefs. You just need to have an open mind on how different societies explain a certain subject, but it is essential for an artist. Having a multicultural life and diversity allows you to see the contrasts and develop a unique perspective in life, so much more in art. Living in Denmark, Germany, and Spain, is such a big factor to my art.
We have also observed that in some of your works you used frames as part of the painting. In contrary to what other people think that the outer frame is sometimes kind of an imprisonment for the work. What is the significance of this attempt to your works?
I am a silent observer but a radical thinker. But when it comes to pursuing my opposing ideas I am physically and verbally passive. That is why I used art as a platform to voice out my concerns and ideas. Rules are meant to be broken, so with art. A work of art should be free and unbound as a human soul. I think it is just natural for us artists to break the rules when it is warranted. Traditional art is two-dimensional, what I'm trying to do is allowing the frame to be part or perhaps the main element of the work so that it will create a much deeper and unique perspective. It is more on like a visual play to make the work more alive.
Your latest works involve a lot of stripes and pixelized elements? What does this attempt mean to you?
Yes, I am experimenting a lot lately on the stripe motifs. It is just fun to work with so I tried to incorporate it on my works. I was trying to associate the stripe motif together with displaced forms and colors cribbed from art history, graphic design images, the nature itself and etc. cobbled together using a variety of techniques and materials from painting, printmaking, stenciling, papercutting, etc. I was trying to achieve shifting hierarchies of abstract identity, formal space and narrative expression. Somehow to openly blur the boundary between the high art and applied arts not only in principle but in practice. And the pixelized element is more on trying to render a blurred and computerized image without losing the idea that it is still a physical painting.
Congratulations on being a father! How does this affect your artistic endeavors?
Thank you! The joy of being a first time parent is irreplaceable, a bit challenging but fun. My wife Jinky and I have been grateful that God gave us our amazing baby Xion. It somehow influences my works, the colorful elements and cartoon-like forms or toy images that you see in my works probably comes from what I saw from the everyday mess at home. Fatherhood has slowed down my artistic endeavours over the past two years. I have been consistently producing works but very slow. Now I am slowly getting back to my normal pace, and hopefully get as much work done for my exhibitions next year.
What are your upcoming projects?
There are a lot of projects, especially exhibitions are waiting and lining up. For now I am just organizing and finishing some works and trying to send it out to several exhibitions next year. Expect for interesting and enormous works that I have been working on over the last two years. Works that were done without pressure, honest, and with pure artistic freedom.
You have worked and lived in multiple countries. Does cross-cultural experience influence your art? How?
Living with different cultures and beliefs awakes new ideas. Seeing new things by traveling I think is very important for artists. You may not see the whole world but it will push you to research and analyze other beliefs. You just need to have an open mind on how different societies explain a certain subject, but it is essential for an artist. Having a multicultural life and diversity allows you to see the contrasts and develop a unique perspective in life, so much more in art. Living in Denmark, Germany, and Spain, is such a big factor to my art.
We have also observed that in some of your works you used frames as part of the painting. In contrary to what other people think that the outer frame is sometimes kind of an imprisonment for the work. What is the significance of this attempt to your works?
I am a silent observer but a radical thinker. But when it comes to pursuing my opposing ideas I am physically and verbally passive. That is why I used art as a platform to voice out my concerns and ideas. Rules are meant to be broken, so with art. A work of art should be free and unbound as a human soul. I think it is just natural for us artists to break the rules when it is warranted. Traditional art is two-dimensional, what I'm trying to do is allowing the frame to be part or perhaps the main element of the work so that it will create a much deeper and unique perspective. It is more on like a visual play to make the work more alive.
What are your upcoming projects?
There are a lot of projects, especially exhibitions are waiting and lining up. For now I am just organizing and finishing some works and trying to send it out to several exhibitions next year. Expect for interesting and enormous works that I have been working on over the last two years. Works that were done without pressure, honest, and with pure artistic freedom.
As a Filipino artist who strives to make a legacy here in Europe, do you have any advice to our younger artists?
The art world is so big but only a few are on the top of the pyramid. So success depends really on which career path you are going. But the most important advice that I can give is, whatever you do, just work. If you work on your craft everyday, it does not matter if it is a good day or a bad day, just go to the studio. In 2 years time you will have more than enough works to mount a career-defining exhibition. So, just work!
RW. A REALLY GREAT ADVICE, which applies to any field of endeavour!
To contact Bong Delfin, send email to, delfinrossbertgmail.com
or c/o Luz Bergersen, email, lgb1312@gmail.com
Photos (left to right, top to bottom): (1) Homerun, 2021, 100x100cm - Acrylic on canvas, (2) How to See, 2021, 80x100cm - Acrylic on canvas, (3) Burnt Out Siena, 2020, 80x100cm - Acrylic on canvas, (4) Perpetual Virginity, 2022, 50x60cm - Acrylic on canvas, (5) Untitled Diptych, 2021, 40x60cm - Acrylic on canvas, (6) Untitled, 2021, 100x130cm ('Life is a Beech' on artwork) - Acrylic on canvas, (7) Pieta, 2021, 60x72cm - Acrylic and varnish on canvas
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