NICCOLO JOSE: MAN MEETS WOOD

Growing up in a construction environment, Niccolo Jose’s passion for creating things out of discarded materials began when he was just a young kid.

When his parents wanted to get him a toy gun, he instead created his own using a few pieces of scrap wood he found around their house; and while kids his age pestered their parents for action figures and played videogames, the young Nico collected Swiss knives, and chose to spend time learning how to use his father’s power tools.

“I remember our old house in Cainta was constantly being renovated for several years, so we would wake up to the sound of cement mixers and carpenters working,” he told The Sunday Times Magazine (STM) in an interview.

“I played in the dirt and my toys were hammer and nails and my sword was a screwdriver” he recalled with a smile adding that his parents allowed him to play with anything as long as it doesn’t have to be plugged.

 

“By the time I was 12 I had a collection of Swiss army knives, and on my 18 birthday, I got my own circular saw. I have always been a handyman. Growing up, I was always surrounded by my dad Jojo’s, collection of tools. Influenced by his passion for collecting old wood, I learned how to work with my hands and developed an appreciation for organic materials,” he narrated.

This appreciation for nature and his love for arts led him to pursue studies in Environmental Science and Studio Art from the Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon.

Being the only Filipino in his college, Nico said he felt that he had to learn something which he can bring back to the country, eventually deciding on Environmental Science since the college offered the best programs in the US. Because of his love for art, however, Nico also took art classes, eventually convincing his mom to allow him to pursue another degree in art.

“My thesis for Environment Studies was about redefining environmental art, not just through recycled materials but with the way the artist is living his life. So I did that by camping outdoors and documenting my experiences while I started making art out of twigs and branches. The thesis was also about measuring my carbon footprint, so I also took note of my water consumption, as well as the trash I produced and recycled. It was then that I realized that if I really wanted to makea difference, I needed to come home and do my work here in the Philippines,” he explained.

Realizations from Ondoy
In September of 2009, as typhoon Ondoy ravaged the Philippines, Nico, who was still in the US, met an accident that would further influence his decision to come home.

“I had hit my head quite hard and the doctors were telling me that I had temporary amnesia and was repeating the same question for 30 minutes. Since I was the only Filipino in my college it was quite surprising that the first person I saw was a Filipina. Later, she began telling me news about Ondoy, and I had been so clueless because I didn’t have my mobile phone.

When I finally got to talk to my family, I learned that our old house in Cainta, was 90 percent underwater. My dad also told me that of the 500 trees he had adopted the previous month around 300 have been wiped out from our farm.”

“I took it as a sign that it was time for me to go home, and promised my dad that I was going to figure out a way to use all those remaining wood, branches and twigs. I guess, somehow, that knock on the head also made me more serious about art,” he joked.

The birth of Studio 10.10
Nico returned to Manila in 2010 studying ergonomics to create functional, sculptural, one-of-a-kind furniture and continue improving on his craftsmanship. He was a frequent guest of the Department of Forestry to learn about the different methods of weaving and bending wood. He also became a regular visitor of the Wood Library at the University of the Philippines Los Banos to learn more about the different types of wood.

While other men his age would probably plan to spend his birthday in a bar with friends, lots of alcohol and beautiful women, Nico wanted his birthday to be more memorable and meaningful.

“When I was in my 5th year in college, I was so stressed about doing my thesis, and because most of my friends had already graduated, I would camp outdoors bringing books on human anatomy, engineering and do some soul searching. It was then that I told myself, “If I’m going back to the Philippines, I want it to do something special,” he fervently recalled.

It was during those times, as he began to create his would-be trademark twig sculptures that he also crafted a “machete.”

“It was my favorite tool and it became my constant companion. I rode my bike with it, gathered twigs and branches with it and I named it after my birthday– 10.10.”

Nico planned to continue creating twig sculptures when he came home, but said it didn’t happen, because his mom would not allow him to camp outdoors. Instead, he found his new “camp site” in one of their warehouses in Batangas where his dad kept all their reclaimed wood.

From there Nico’s fascination with old wood became an obsession and he began to conceptualize art pieces to make use of his dad’s vast collection. His grand birthday project turned out to be a 7ft. tall “Think Big,” chair– aptly embodying all his dreams and future goals— and eventually giving birth to Studio 10.10.

Using his dad’s old wood collection gathered from centuries-old houses in the country, “Think Big” was made of mahogany, tamarind, narra, tangili, kamagong, molave, palo de china, ipil, cherry, cedar, and palo ropa.

“It took me around five weeks to complete that chair, and I spent my birthday just sitting there for hours on end, thinking of all the things I wanted to do next,” he enthused.

With his boy-next-door looks, one could not help but ask the young artist about the lucky girl who inspires him. “I tell a lot of people that I started becoming good in my craft only when I gave up chasing girls, he answered smiling,” adding that he wants to focus on improving his art first.

 

Beyond and eco-innovation
Promoting eco-innovation in his works, Nico’s accent art pieces proves the potential behind sustainable integration of services in the Philippines. The ‘studio furniture’ he creates show the rich history ingrained in the country’s natural resources. In all his pieces, the natural color of each type of wood used is highlighted. They are handcrafted—no nails are used and instead they are put together with dowels, pegs and glue.

“My aim is to bring back the emotion and appreciation for furniture as a freestanding art form—differentiate it from the pure mechanical pieces influenced by 20th century mass production and modernist furniture. Aged wood carries with it a history and each piece offers a narrative that ties in with the skill, craftsmanship and process that goes into shaping an individual piece of furniture,” he said, citing the works of George Nakashima and Sam Maloof as his inspirations.

He says he wants his creations to play with all the senses, and make wood look like its moving or flowing instead of its hard, rigid look. “I want every piece to have soul so that the person sitting on it or using it would feel a connection with my creation.”

Nico also prides himself for crafting custom-made chairs and set pieces, and now clients can meet and see the artist at work with the opening of Beyond Private Residences–Studio 10.10’s Art Site located within a private hideaway in Lipa, Batangas.

The 12,000-square meter property was built to accommodate Nico’s special clients who want to see more of the artist’s works and so that Nico could personally take their measurements for their custom-made chairs. Using his knowledge in human anatomy, Nico creates chairs specially aligned to his customer’s body, particularly the back to make it a therapeutic work of art.

Beyond Private Residence boasts of several villas and luxury amenities such as a pool, bar, massage areas, and a relaxing landscape to make the client’s stay as comfortable and enjoyable as possible.

At the center of the property is the showroom where clients can view some of Jose’s early works, favorite pieces, prototypes, as well as other art forms such as pyrography.

Art on Fire
When he is not busy creating his wooden masterpieces, Nico experiments with three and two-dimensional art, producing watercolor and Japanese ink wash paintings, large scale abstract oil paintings—and most recently pyrography.

Nico admits he loves playing with fire and was fascinated by the art he could create when he accidentally burned plywood. The unique art form was debuted by Nico in his Spring Collection on March 2012 and he was the first local artist to exhibit the form in the Philippines.

“Creating images on wood through fire makes a distinct and unique imprint which captures and represents a moment in time that will last even longer than oil paintings,” he said.

So far he has been commissioned to do pyrography portraits of several high profile clients.

 

Bond of Brothers
While Nico takes care of all the design and manufacturing design aspect of Studio 10.10, it is his brother Jose Abel who manages the financial side of their business.

“Everything that deals with price or numbers, my brother Abel takes care of it– I guess my mother knew that you cannot have an artist doing business,” Nico stated.

Abel has been fully supportive of his brother’s works, coming home all the way from the US to run the studio.

“The good thing about Nico is that he’s only 25 and his art will continue to evolve. He only learned about pyrography this year, and I think he would become even more creative in the coming years,” Abel shared.

“It takes a lot of patience and discipline to create the works he’s done and I don’t think many artists live inside their warehouse to do his work almost 24/7—but he enjoys it.”

The brothers are currently working side by side on the Green Canyon Leisure Farms project– an eco-tourist resort in Clark, Pampanga, as the studio has been commissioned to do 200 pieces of chairs for the resort.

[This feature first appeared in the August 5 2012 issue of The Sunday Times Magazine]