“Oftentimes, the ideas of my crafts come from nothing,” says artist Dennis James Occeña. “It’s ironic, but creative ideas appear after my brush on the canvas has been laid, and I can’t explain it.” Dennis discovered his artistic gifts at a very young age. Using his pen or pencil, he would draw distorted faces of his siblings, cutting or burning them after. A way of expressing negative emotions.

Dennis Occeña joined the LIFEBANK Foundation workshop for artists (2016-2018) which led him to the Association of Negros Artist where he further refined his talent by joining their group shows. In 2018-2019, he studied at the La Consolacion College Bacolod (Senior High School) and took up the Arts and Design Strand. Dennis acknowledges different artists and mentors who have helped enhance his interest and insight into the arts. He joined the Victorias Milling Company’s on-the-spot painting competition in 2018 and 2019 and won as a Champion in the High School Category on both years, respectively.

Dennis uses charcoal and oil paint as his primary media in painting, while simultaneously experimenting and exploring other media. Most of his works portray human sufferings—nightmares, anxiety, abyssal abrasions, morbid scenes, melancholia, despair, violence, and trauma. His concepts also involve his observations, insights, unexplained thoughts, dreams, music, religion, and inner voices. These inspirations helped him expand his artistic inclinations and oeuvre. “Art enshrouds my soul, is a way of expressing myself, is air to breathe, and is half of my existence.