Months before graduating from UA&P in 2019 with a master’s degree in Humanities, Nina Ynion approached a lady in a church activity, thinking that the latter was the owner of the pre-school where she wanted to apply as an art teacher. Nina was mistaken, but she did get hired by the lady. This led her, months after graduation, to Florence, Italy.
Read on and find out how Nina’s innocent mistake led her toward a potential lifetime of love for art conservation.
How did you get into art conservation?
I’ve always wanted to be a museum worker, as I considered museums as my haven. When I was in third-year college, I had my heart set on becoming a curator at Ayala Museum. I even dreamt of taking courses in the US after graduation to help me achieve this goal. That was why, for my internship, I worked as a researcher and writer at the Ayala Museum-Filipinas Heritage Library for four months. I had the opportunity to experience the working environment and to help out with exhibitions.
Even until my fifth year, I still had the same plan in mind. But everything changed when I was gathering data for my master’s thesis. I dealt with numerous members of the clergy, religious art scholars, and employees of museums and government organizations. When I consolidated the information I collected, I noticed that what was common was their comment on the need for more awareness in the conservation of Philippine art.
I began researching about the field of art conservation and got extremely fascinated by it. I was surprised that the ideas I usually raised in my research papers for my art and history majors were in line with the ethical principles that conservators advocate. However, I was still unsure of how I could attain academic and work experience in that field, especially here in the Philippines.
I believe that God will always lead you to where He wants you to be, more so if you pray fervently. It was no accident that I met Mrs. Missy Sanares-Reyes in a church activity. I mistakenly approached her thinking that she was the owner of a neighborhood pre-school where I planned to apply. But it turned out that she is an art conservator. When she learned that I was graduating in a few months, she invited me to be her apprentice and to train at her studio after my class hours.
How did it go from there?
On the first few months of my training under Mrs. Reyes, I was convinced that I wanted to pursue a career in art conservation. With encouragement from my mom, I took a chance and submitted my application documents to the admissions head of Studio Arts College International (SACI), as she was visiting the Philippines that time for a Study Abroad conference. I received my application approval a month later.
I lived in Italy for almost a year while taking up Post-Baccalaureate in Art Conservation at SACI.
Tell us about your experiences in Italy.
At SACI, I studied conservation techniques and methods of different art mediums: archaeological artifacts, mural, painting, and paper (books, manuscripts). I also took classes on conservation law, and diagnostic techniques for conservators.
My stay in Florence, Italy was truly life changing. I have had a very sheltered life, so to be alone for the first time in a beautiful foreign country was surreal. We had weekly field trips with our professors that exposed us to numerous amazing museums and historical sites and buildings. Everywhere I looked, there were objects and places imbued with historical value. Although it was tempting to pursue a career in Italy or in Europe, where conservators are more recognized and where arts is embedded into their culture, there was not a day that I did not think about our country. I felt I could not be truly successful or happy if I were not to serve my country through my work.
What keeps you busy at present?
After completing my post-baccalaureate studies five months ago, I started working as an assistant to Mrs. Reyes.
I am also very grateful to have been given the opportunity to teach in the Arts Department of UA&P as a part-time instructor beginning this term.
You recently delivered a lecture, hosted by the Intramuros Learning Sessions, on Leoncio Asuncion’s Iconology. Tell us more about the research behind your lecture and your experiences in studying Asuncion’s sculptures.
The major classes of the Humanities program rigorously train its students in academic research writing. As early as third year, we were introduced to historical research, wherein I wrote a proposal for a paper about the 19th century Chinese-mestizo families in my hometown of Biñan, Laguna. This evolved into another research topic for a historiography class, where I shifted my focus to the contribution of one family, the Yatco lineage. It was through this paper that I found out about their connection with the Asuncion family. Luckily, that same semester, Ayala Museum organized an exhibit featuring the Asuncion brothers: Justiniano, Mariano, and Leoncio. I was captivated by their works and wrote about them in our visual arts class.
Fast forward to fifth year when I was searching for possible thesis topics, I read my visual arts paper again and noticed the lack of information on Leoncio Asuncion. I began looking into Philippine art encyclopedias and textbooks, and concluded that there are no studies on Leoncio Asuncion and his works alone. This puzzled me, and it was then that I decided to hopefully do him justice.
At first, it was challenging because of the limited resources I had. But I was blessed to have supportive professors who guided and motivated me throughout my research. I also met Philippine art historians and the Asuncion family relatives, who were spiritedly accommodating and supportive of my thesis research.
Among the works that you have restored, studied, or written about, here and abroad, would you have a favorite?
Believe it or not, I enjoyed working on all the projects that I have handled so far. Every piece had an interesting detail and challenge to it, which I truly enjoyed working on.
An example is a baroque painting of the Virgin Mary and Child Jesus that was the subject of my thesis in SACI. My plan was to discuss its iconographical and historical background, but my thesis adviser recommended that I use the technical art history approach. Technical art history involves going through the artwork’s historical background and its diagnostic results, such as image diagnostics and pigment analysis. I initially felt overwhelmed. Since the island where the painting came from had no resources written in English, I had to patiently read and translate some articles and books from Italian to English. I also had to consult with Italian professors and scholars. It was challenging, but it was a gratifying experience. I enjoyed the writing process.
Which piece of work challenged you the most?
My final project in SACI required me to reconstruct the wood surface of a painting of St. John the Evangelist. The painting was full of woodworm holes. I had to place mold on the missing parts of the peripheral edges, accurately recreating the original shape of the wood. Then, I had to insert putty into each of the holes. It was difficult and entailed much meticulosity.
What is the state of art conservation in the Philippines? Are there many Filipino art conservators?
Although we are way behind other countries, the field of art conservation in the Philippines is promising, especially now. Through social media, the awareness in protecting our cultural heritage sites has increased.
Regarding current Filipino art conservators, the number is modest but gradually increasing.
If the readers would like to know more about art conservation, where can they go? How do they begin?
I think the only way to know fully about art conservation is to pursue further studies. There have been reports about conservation projects botched by enthusiasts and hobbyists. These could have been avoided had proper education and training been done.
For now, they can start by building their knowledge on Philippine art history and art appreciation. They can then immerse in the value of these cultural heritage sites and understand why their preservation is important, especially in educating the Filipino youth.
What’s next for you, Nina?
I plan to pursue further studies, either here or abroad. I have no definite plans yet because of the situation we are in right now, but one thing is for sure: I will always come back to the Philippines. I will not be at peace living and working in another place, knowing that my country needs me more.#
Banner photo by mingche lee from Pexels.
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