Paintings
DENNIS SUN
サン デニス
CREATIVE ARTIST
Painting, Graphic Design, Illustration
Writing, Sculpture, Photography...
About
DENNIS SUN graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Visual Communication from the University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City. A consistent honor student from elementary through college, he was also a recipient of several university scholarships.
He began his career teaching Art Appreciation and Humanities at the collegiate level. A year later, he moved to Tokyo, where he worked as a graphic designer and illustrator for over a decade before establishing his freelance practice.
His diverse clientele includes Japan Times, Japan Airlines, ANA (All Nippon Airways), Tokyo Disneyland, Toshiba, Toyota, Honda, Recruit, Nova, Jusco, Yoyogi Seminar, NTT Communications, Docomo, NHK Television, Walt Disney Animation, Asahi Seimei, NTN, Hiragana Times, and more.
As a multidisciplinary creator, Dennis continues to produce art across various media. Beyond his established work in illustration and design, he also creates sculptures, etchings, ceramics, murals, computer graphics, and comic strips.
Dennis has held solo art exhibitions at Onda Gallery (USA), UNESCO Jakarta (Indonesia), the Philippine Embassy in Tokyo, World Trade Center Yokohama, ASEAN Centre Tokyo, Nagoya International Center, Tokyo American Club, Philippine National Bank Nagoya, Tully's Coffee, Koyama Gardens, Shinjuku Cultural Center, and many more venues.
He is the editor-in-chief and creative art director of Jeepney Press, a non-commercial publication for Filipinos in Japan.
Dennis also collaborated with Asahi Weekly Shimbun, where he wrote a popular weekly column, Strangers Surviving, focusing on how foreigners adapt and thrive in Japan. Due to its success, he was later given his own colorful comic strip, much to the delight of his readers.
Over the years, Dennis has received numerous design, art, literary, and academic awards in both the Philippines and Japan. His works have been exhibited across Japan, the United States, and Asia. With a mission to share positivity, he plans to bring his art to even more countries to spread love and joy worldwide.
A strong supporter of charitable causes, Dennis has contributed his talents by designing logos, brochures, and even lending his emceeing skills for various events. In 2002, he was nominated by the Philippine Embassy in Tokyo for the Presidential Heritage Award. In 2010, he received the prestigious SM Global Pinoy Award, recognizing Filipinos excelling in their professions globally. In 2013, he was honored with the Most Outstanding Kapampangan Award (MOKA) for Mass Media by the governor of Pampanga, his home province.
While regularly exhibiting at Koyama Gardens and Tully's Coffee—where he has built a devoted following—Dennis also works with the Japanese government, as a coordinator helping foreign residents learn Japanese and find stable employment, while also training Japanese teachers to effectively teach their language to foreigners.