We all know the old adage: “Another man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” Well, in Reneboy Chona’s artworks, the “garbage” of our technological past wanders into our art culture’s future, and by doing so, also promotes environmentally friendly pieces.
“I acquired sacks full of floppy diskettes at our local junkshop, which cost me only one peso a piece—a real bargain as you can imagine! Upon seeing the discarded plastics, it triggered inspiration in me that I wanted to create something different, because sometimes the use of just a canvas and some paint feels a bit lacking,” Reneboy shares. The artist enjoys this miniature medium as they can be taken anywhere and he can just scribble on his sketches on a whim. Albeit it’s size, through the artist’s imagination and skillful creativity, the diskette is packed full of layers of details and interesting subjects that can stand-alone or be a tremendous part of an image on canvas.
Reneboy’s discovery for the creative use of floppy diskettes came later and would of course, run out in time, but his creative style is fuelled by his surroundings and by his own sheer inventiveness that can be reminiscent to the likes of Gustav Klimt, Piet Mondrian, Wassily Kandisky, and especially, Pablo Picasso. Like another saying we all know: “It’s the Indian, not the arrow.” His acrylic and/or oil works may be categorized as modern/contemporary surrealism that usually carries the subjects of politics or random but lovely and child-like things. “I want to educate the masses and students through my art but it is not overly dramatic. And my works really capture me as a person; what you see is what you get, I am just a simple and fun-loving guy. I just create what it is in me at the moment, but I do research my potential subject first if I have to. I do not even aspire that badly to become rich and famous; I just want to exhibit alongside my Davao artists and I am good,” Reneboy humbly states.
Reneboy Chona has grown surrounded by artists, his cousin was from the Ford Academy and his uncle was an advertising artist, so when he was younger, even though he never had proper artistic training, Reneboy picked up a few art tips here and there while he was helping them do their own work—may it be silk screening, drawing, or crafting their own canvases. Plus, he did sketches a lot when he was working as a glass-etching artist; Reneboy was trained there by a lot of Fordian artists, like Mark Gonzaga, Charles Punzalan, Owen Bajenting and Jeffrey Pantoja. “I think artists has a higher level of philosophical awareness and spirituality because we are trained—may it be unconsciously or indirectly, to be more sensitive to our environment. It is like having sixth sense to be able to translate our own experiences or the experiences of other people from immaterial to the material. That is why I love listening to other people’s stories, especially to OFWs, since I would know how hard it is since I too was once in their shoes,” Reneboy divinely shares.
Truly, as an artist and friend, Reneboy is one of the kindest and most reliable people you can do art collaborations with. His versatility in vision and talent can go through any medium and style/genre that is only limited by his clients’ imagination.
