ARTIST PROFILE

Aria is an emerging artist from Iloilo City, Philippines based in Naarm/Melbourne who goes by the alias houjitsun. She specialises in 2D character illustration and writing, working across traditional and digital media. Underpinning Aria’s practice is watercolour, a medium she grew to love in the summer of 2018 and has since established as the foundation of her artistic process. In tandem with manga influences from her childhood, her work is a love letter to both modern manga aesthetics and the timeless nature of traditional mediums.Aria’s practice is concerned with archiving the present in her art. In her words, the present is ‘candid, imperfect and impermanent, yet beautiful as it is’. Following this ethos, her inspiration ranges from pivotal experiences and lessons in her personal life, to candid photographs of people from curated social media posts or ‘dumps’. Her illustrations portray people in the candid, whether imperfect or perfect, framed as a slice of time archived in a visual piece of art. Aria uses manga style projects as vessels for exploring storytelling and capturing the lessons she has learnt in her art.Aria currently maintains a social media presence across multiple platforms, sharing fanart and ongoing art projects. A seasoned artist contributing to multiple zine projects and exhibitions, she has developed an extensive traditional-based repertoire and is currently completing a long-term art project covering visual and written media.Operating on unceded land of the Kulin Nation.

EXPERIENCE

2021
An Eternity with You: A Marignatz Fanzine (FE16) - Page Artist
A Quiver of Arrows: A Fire Emblem: Three Houses Sniper Zine - Page Artist2022
Lustrous Stars: A Fire Emblem: Three Houses Fairytale Zine - Page Artist
A Scholar's Lullaby: A Linhardt von Hevring Fanzine (FE16) - Page Artist
Freed Spirit: A Hapi Zine (FE16) - Page Artist
A Distant Melody: A Fire Emblem Music Zine - Page Artist
Heart and Home: An AsheDue Cookbook (FE16) - Page Artist
First Year Exhibition: Monash University, Caulfield Campus - Curator & Artist2023
Chivalry: A FE16 Ashe Ubert Fanbook - Page Artist
Stray Arrow: An Archers FE Zine - Page Artist2024
Community Canvas Project - Council of Stonnington2025
Pagkain: Art and History of Filipino Food - Page Artist
It Comes With Who I Am curated by Backyard Concerts, Collingwood
Traffic Signal Box Project - Council of Stonnington