When Jesstoni Garcia trims his hair using electric clippers every few months, he’s not just giving himself a haircut, he’s also harvesting art materials.

The co-owner of a Manila hair salon distributes these collected strands and clips on a blank white canvas with a small brush and clear, sticky glue, taking two to five hours to arrange them into beautiful portraits of musicians and actors.

Garcia’s main work as a seaman requires him to spend up to eight months a year aboard cruise ships, and due to a lack of creative resources like paint and sketchpads while at sea in 2021, he began creating images with his own hair. He began with self-portraits before moving on to portraying superstars.

He utilises just his own hair because he spends most of his time at sea rather than at his salon, shaving his sideburns when he needs more material. Long journeys take a toll on Garcia’s physical and mental health, so making art helps him relax.

He said, adding that he hopes to sell his work in the future, “We need to have an outlet to deal with depression. For me, my outlet was making art,”

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