Justen Ladda
Justen Ladda is a German artist whose painting, assemblage, and installation use latex, vinyl, and synthetic polymer paints on unusual supports.
Painter
Kristoffer Ardeña
Kristoffer Ardeña is a Filipino artist known for Ghost Paintings using repurposed surfaces, tropical materials, and elastomeric, latex, and acrylic paint.
Kristoffer Ardeña quick facts
Ardeña’s quick facts cover Ghost Paintings, repurposed printed surfaces, tropical materials, industrial coatings, and cracked-paint effects.
| Full name | Kristoffer Ardeña |
|---|---|
| Born | 1976 · Philippines |
| Died | — |
| Nationality | Filipino |
| Movements | Neo-tropicality |
| Paint types | Latex paint · Elastomeric paint |
| Other media | — |
| Other materials | — |
| Painting surfaces | PVC, including woven PVC fiber and PVC-coated fabric · Plastic · repurposed printed material |
| Painting methods | Allows coatings to crack, weather, and reveal underlying printed imagery so climate and material behavior participate in the finished work |
| Common subjects | Found commercial imagery, domestic patterns, orchids, tropical conditions, and everyday Filipino visual culture |
| Notable works | Ghost Painting series |
Sources: Appetite: New Tropics, Monsoon Southeast Asia, and Ocula: Kristoffer Ardeña artworks.
Paint types used by Kristoffer Ardeña
Ardeña applied latex to transparent plastic and elastomeric paint to woven PVC fiber, using industrial coatings whose behavior shapes the layered works.
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Latex paint
In Ghost Painting / Cracked Category: Study for a Portrait (with solihiya embroidery) (2023), Ardeña used latex paint on transparent plastic. The paint flakes and fades beneath embroidered plastic, making deterioration and concealment part of the work’s meaning. The artist documents latex as a material in this specific mixed-media installation.
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Elastomeric paint
Ardeña’s other Ghost Painting works use elastomeric paint and tinting medium on woven PVC fiber, as documented in exhibition records. The flexible industrial coating sits on a utilitarian, flexible support, linking the material behavior of the paint to the installation’s fabric-like construction.
Sources: Appetite: New Tropics, Monsoon Southeast Asia, and Ocula: Kristoffer Ardeña artworks. · Monsoon Southeast Asia: Ghost Painting / Cracked Category
Painting surfaces used by Kristoffer Ardeña
Records identify Kristoffer Ardeña's use of PVC, fabric, and plastic, with named examples below showing how each support functions in the finished work.
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PVC
Ardeña uses woven PVC fiber and PVC-coated fabric as supports for painted installations. In the Ghost Painting works, flexible synthetic mesh carries elastomeric or latex-based paint and may be combined with embroidery, creating a layered surface that is neither canvas nor ordinary cloth.
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Fabric
Ardeña also paints on flexible fabric-like supports, including woven PVC fiber and solihiya embroidery. The painted synthetic material bends and hangs as part of the installation, so the surface’s movement and construction remain visible alongside the image. The material record identifies the woven support.
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Plastic
In Ghost Painting / Cracked Category, Ardeña applies latex paint to transparent plastic, then works with embroidered plastic elements over it. The clear synthetic sheet reveals the layers behind the image and documents plastic as a direct painted surface, not merely a collage material.
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Repurposed printed material
Ardeña uses repurposed printed material as both a painted surface and a source of imagery. By painting over an already printed substrate, he leaves parts of its prior visual language available within the new work; exhibition documentation distinguishes these pieces from blank supports.
Sources: Appetite: New Tropics, Monsoon Southeast Asia, Ocula: Kristoffer Ardeña artworks.
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