Image from Arianna Bongato
Tell us something about yourself!
Hi I’m Arianna Bongato, but you can call me Anya! I am a contemporary artist from Pateros, Metro Manila. I graduated Cum Laude at the University of the Philippines - Diliman with a Bachelor’s Degree in Studio Arts, Major in Sculpture. Though it has only been my 2nd year working as a full-time artist, I’ve been involved in a couple of major art events in Manila such as Art Fair Philippines, Xavier Art Fest, and Art in the Park. Most of my peers and patrons have come to know me for my distinct art style, often described as a mix of classical and geometric paintings, topped with a feminine touch of gold and solid white paint.
Do you follow a ritual?
When I’m not running errands or visiting certain events, often times my days comprise of working from noon to late afternoon (1 to 7PM) with frequent breaks for meals in between. As for a personal ritual, I think my work environment affects my mood and so I usually open my curtains to let outside light in, just to brighten up the space and lift my spirits up. I also take rest times into consideration when working by frequently standing up and stretching out from my chair, especially since sitting in one place can be bad for my back.
As for a beauty routine I try to keep things simple by just following a cleansing and moisturizing (with sunscreen if needed) regimen. I tried skin cycling with retinol and BHA before but I don’t always remember to do them and so I end up just using products whenever my skin feels like it.
How do you incorporate or plan to incorporate happiness into your ritual?
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Happiness for me is defined as the feeling of joy when solving problems, and so I think to incorporate more happiness in my otherwise mundane life I’ll have to introduce more challenging “problems” to solve in my days. A problem that I would like to fix is how I’m very dependent on social media apps like Tiktok and Instagram before bed, such that hours would go by and I end up catching sleep when the sun is already out. I think I’ll be happier to get more quality sleep these days once I hopefully see myself putting my phone under my pillow before bed more to avoid distractions at night.
What’s one thing you always look forward to when it comes to:
Day-to-day life.
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Getting certain tasks like errands and backlogs done for the day so that I could be one step closer to chilling out.
Weekly or monthly commitments.
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Aside from my scheduled trips to Simply Skin’s Space for my Essential Facial sessions, I am looking forward to some major events in work such as my exhibits and vacation breaks. This year I am currently preparing for my Second Solo Exhibit in September, and a few other shows before the year ends. Every weekend as well, I visit my family house (since I live in a separate condo) to stay for the weekend and not think about work and other stressful things
Yearly traditions.
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I usually look forward to the cool Amihan weather from December to February since I get to wear my hoodies outside and coincidentally, these months usually host a variety of major events such as Christmas, Art Fair Philippines, and Xavier Art Fest which often gets me pumped up to showcase some new works.
What patterns or habits are you working on letting go of to get one step further toward progress?
I’d like to work on trying to not take certain things too seriously or personally, since I tend to overthink things that are out of my control and it often stresses me out when it shouldn’t. Especially in art since my works are presented to a lot of strangers whose beliefs and attitudes are different from mine, unsolicited pieces of advice and comments are quite commonplace when discussing outputs and these negatively affect me, which in the long run won’t benefit my growth as a person and an artist. Plus, I get pimples when I stress about these things too so I’d like to prevent that.
One Japanese concept that’s inspired me to tackle this problem is called “Shikata ga nai” which can be interpreted as letting go of what cannot be changed and just focusing on what one can control. I think applying this thinking may help me better gauge my reactions to conflicts in life and can help me stabilize my overall mental being.
If you were to make a manifesto, what would you choose over perfection?
I would choose peace over chasing perfection since perfection doesn’t exist and peace is easier to achieve once we let go of the idea of perfection.
Learn more about the skin ritual Arianna is taking on her journey to embrace happiness over perfection — The Essential Facial.