Niccolo Jose was turning a new page when he became the family’s “chair man.”
Jose said his parents told him to get rid of his father’s wood collection in the family’s warehouse.
“I told them I’ll make something for myself as my birthday gift—it was going to be my 23rd birthday. I started with a chair,” Jose said during an event hosted by the Best Friends of the Forest (BFF) Movement.
“I didn’t know [that time] how it was going to look like,” he added. “I had no background in furniture design, no background in furniture making.”
So what do millennials like him do? Go online.
“[It was] best to go online and look at videos on how to do carpentry,” Jose said. “I spent two months on it and worked non-stop.”
Jose produced his first and favorite piece in 2010 and eventually titled it Think Big. The 7-feet x 4-feet chair was made of mahogany, narra and tangili, to name a few.
The chair is currently placed at Green Canyon Eco Art Resort in Pampanga, a business he co-owns with his family.
Old wood
JOSE is an artist known to work with old wood like beams from abandoned theaters and ramshackle houses.
Some of the wood is between 50 years old and 300 years old. Due to the antiquity of the materials, his furniture comes at a high price.
Jose told guests at the BFF event that he considers “variables” when pricing his artworks.
Aside from the wood’s age, other variables include the species of the tree where the wood originated as well as the length of time he spent working on it.
“The sanding part: how much sand paper? How much oil did you use? And after that, there’s the hidden value of how much does it contribute to your art career? Is it your best work?”
Jose considers the science and technical data involved in his choice of material as a major hurdle before he begins working on wood for art.
Nonetheless, Jose said these do not limit him from pushing ideas into other fields. He said he is currently collaborating with doctors to make a custom chair suitable for surgery as well as working on putting magnets in the chairs for proper blood circulation.
Young blood
HAVING studied in the United States with a double major in environmental studies and studio art sculpture, Jose said his art was heavily influenced by the city of Portland, which he considers as one of America’s most eco-friendly cities.
He returned to the Philippines and learned his country used to have the most variety of trees and lost around 90 percent of its tree species. He said this prompted him to study more about Philippine wood at the University of the Philippines in Los Baños.
“I realized why they’re [trees] really special: It’s basically our country. We’re the only country in the world with four bodies of oceans and with 7,000 islands that [accounts for] the varieties of trees. Every island has different nutrients based on the location,” he explained. “They each get different trade winds and that adds to the grain of the wood so if you can teach people why it’s special, maybe they’ll have second thoughts.”
Jose’s ecological frame of mind may have been influenced by his family’s business.
The Green Canyon Eco Art Resort, for one, sits on lahar, spewed by Mount Pinatubo, which erupted in 1991.
Jose said the hotel and its restaurant were all made from lahar and that they planted narra trees. Years later, many birds started to show up, he said.
“Birds are a sign that the place is a safe area. If there are birds that means there’s clean water and there’s edible food for everyone.”
Environmental art
ASIDE from transforming abandoned, run-down wood to a modern masterpiece, Jose also uses sawdust after working on a sculpture for vermicomposting. The latter is a type of composting that uses earthworms to consume organic waste to produce natural fertilizer.
He said he also hires illegal loggers rather than carpenters.
“Instead of illegal logging, they’re getting the opportunity to recycle,” Jose said. “So from there, that’s already teaching the people you already work with.”
Jose said his art is also heavily influenced by his interest in human anatomy. He specializes in creating versatile furniture that caters to the body measurements of his clients.
“A peculiar aspect of my work is my emphasis on comfort and relaxation.
“One thing that I want people to take [when appreciating my art], especially when it comes to the furniture, is that art uses your emotional senses. When it comes to wooden furniture, you can smell the wood, you can see the different grains, and best of all—you can feel the art,” he said. “The chair that’s customized for you is almost like a wedding dress that you had made specifically for you.”
Jose added his penchant for environmental art originated during the months he was working on his thesis.
“When I was doing my thesis about environmental art, it wasn’t just the piece that you’re working on; it’s about how you live as an artist, how much [resources] you consume as an artist,” he added. “The end result is the art piece, but how you are as a person and how you approach your job is the more important part.”
Image credits: Niccolo Jose