Profile of JJ-Christine Villamarin

Born and raised in the Philippines, JJ-Christine Villamarin comes from a family of photographers. But wanting to be different, she tried to stay away from photography…

She dabbled in theater as a resident actor at the Metropolitan Theater, tried her hand at songwriting and joined KATHA (samahan ng mga kompositor), performed her own songs at artists' havens such as 70's Bistro and the legendary Club Dredd, made a short film at Mowelfund and joined Probe Productions as a video editor/cinematographer. Pursuing her passion for moving pictures, JJ-Christine moved on as an edit supervisor for I-Witness and other documentary projects. She also directed a documentary on the making of Isa Lorenzo's Filipinas exhibit and is currently directing the I-witness episodes of Howie Severino. But taking photos was in her blood, she mounted her first photography exhibit entitled t.R.I.P. (to rest in peace). This exhibit is the product of four years and countless rolls of film exposed in various local and foreign places such as Cambodia, Vietnam and China. Her work is so much more than just travel mementos; they are a colorful testimony to her awakening and continuous growth as an artist.

Spurred on by the success of her first exhibit, JJ-Christine unveils her second solo exhibit, HOME IS WHERE THE ART IS. Fusing her passions in music, video and still pictures, her work documents her European immersion-being lost, finding her way, and finally coming home to a place she had first thought to be foreign. With her personal collages, hand-colored photos, and video installations accompanied with music she composed, one catches a glimpse of Europe through a wanderer's fresh eyes filled with an almost child-like wonder.