Santa Barbara Artist DJ Javier Remixes Surf and Street with Filipino Culture
DJ Javier has been betting on himself and his art for years.
A first-generation Filipino American, Javier often felt uncomfortable in his cultural identity, feeling "too different" while growing up in a largely white and Latino community in Santa Barbara, his hometown. He was never crazy about school, preferring instead to play Nintendo or skate around with friends.
But he always knew he could draw, and he always knew that he liked it.
For Javier back then, a career as an artist seemed ambitious and even out of reach, and he wondered if his parents — both Filipino immigrants — would approve. So, nurturing that craft from adolescence, with the encouragement of an artist-mentor, was an exercise of trust, and it has carried him into his destiny as a graphic designer and artist, whose work can be found all over Santa Barbara and beyond.
Today, Javier, 28, has hit a critical point in his career. He's easily one of the most recognized and requested artists in Santa Barbara, where he's created murals, posters, apparel, fine art pieces and more through his multidisciplinary creative studio Bayan Surf Club.
Javier has done branding and creative direction for local mom-and-pop brands and community organizations, while also collaborating with juggernaut institutions such as Coors Brewing Company, Huckberry and most recently the Los Angeles Rams, where his design has even appeared in animation on the stadium's jumbotron.
The work keeps coming, and Javier keeps creating, fueling a sort of abundance feedback loop that's allowed him to increase his community impact — a marker of success for him — and ascend higher into his craft and identity as an artist.
Formerly the Art Director at Santa Barbara shoe brand SeaVee's, Javier now fully works for himself at Bayan Surf Club. The name comes from his passion and pride for his local community and his Filipino culture, as it refers to the Filipino communal practice of "bayanihan," where neighbors help neighbors relocate their homes.
Javier aims to embody that spirit in his work, even doing branding and other creative work for local businesses at discounted rates or pro-bono.
"It's the greater idea of supporting one another," he said. "When I can support the community, I always do."
His work is described on his website as "blurring the lines of art & design," specializing in graphic design, creative direction and commercial art, as well as fine art, murals, illustration and apparel.
Javier's fine art pieces are known for their bright, bold colors outlined in black, often featuring skeletons, animals and Southern California scenes drawn or painted on canvases, as well as food trays and even surfboards.
Javier loves his city and its people, and believes in empowering the community and making it more equitable for all. A key part of his mission is redistributing some of the wealth he's earned from his art to Santa Barbara organizations.
At canto.vision, he designs apparel with a local, vintage feel with his business partner, Michael Shaner, and they regularly donate a portion of their revenue to a local nonprofit doing good things for their city.
Their most recent donation was to the Sea League, an affordable after-school program that introduces local kids to ocean sports and stewardship. The organization is special to Javier, as it has a particular focus on supporting youth of color, who are less likely to learn to swim or engage in expensive water sports such as surfing or kayaking.
That was certainly true for Javier. Today, he's an enthusiastic surfer, but only picked up the sport in adulthood.
"Growing up, I watched Fuel TV and I'd always skip surfing and I never knew why," he said, "but I realized later, like none of these guys looked like me, it's all these white guys…So, once I learned [to surf] I was like, 'This is amazing, and I'm sad I haven't done this my whole life.'"
The past two or so years have included some big shifts for Javier.
Last April, he and his wife, Courtney, became first-time parents to their son, Duke, named after Hawaiian surf legend Duke Kahanamoku. Before that, he settled into his own artist's studio in Santa Barbara's Funk Zone, using the private space to create his art, study and dabble in new techniques.
"This space really opened it up for me creatively," he said. "When I came in here, I was able to experiment more. I started ordering bigger panels and painting more seriously, just taking it all more seriously."
Javier also has been on a cultural homecoming journey of sorts, letting go of the resentment he had for growing up feeling alienated because of his heritage. In adulthood, he embraces his culture while unpacking the complexities of his identity and allowing it to bleed into his artistic endeavors, too.
"It's unfortunate because my Filipino heritage is so rich and beautiful, and I was ashamed of it and almost was scolding it for being so rich and beautiful and different," he said. "I love who I am and I love my culture…so I've been learning and how to connect with it more and how to leave it in [my work]."
Most recently, Javier has refined his technique, upped his prices, and is excited to create "big scale, more public work" centering his Filipino heritage.
He put it all into practice for his recent solo exhibition, "All or Nothing," at San Diego's Point Loma Nazarene University. The body of fine art pieces is colorful and striking, and most contain Filipino motifs woven throughout: figures in straw hats, roosters and water buffalos, among other symbols. The show "marks a new chapter in my creative career," Javier said. "Even hanging the work [for the show]...I was like, 'This feels different than what I've worked on before.'"
It feels both exciting and vulnerable to continue carving out his legacy as an artist on his own terms.
"I've been growing creatively and my work is elevating," he said. "I understand my creative process more, the subject matter and why I want to paint certain things.
"I'm setting it all to a higher bar."
