The Matter of Beings – Resin and Marble Cast Sculptures by Carlo de Laza

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By Martin Genodepa

Carlo de Laza, an artist from Cainta, Rizal, has been engaged in sculptural explorations of a deep and timeless theme: the human condition.

Like others whose art deals with the human condition, de Laza grapples with the challenge of expressing complex emotional and existential experiences such as love, loss, joy, pain, identity, mortality. Like them, he strives to bring order to chaos, sense to trauma, and meaning to the unknown. He, too, tells stories that aim to teach and heal through poetic suggestion in his sculpture rather than through explicit narrative.

Sculpture, as a medium, tends to be poetic rather than overtly narratory. While stories exist within the three-dimensional form, they are often implied rather than spelled out. As a line-and-volume-dependent art form, sculpture can be cerebral and restrained, yet they can be immensely expressive when the artist wills it.

In Alimpungat, De Laza’s body of work is simultaneously conceptual and emotionally resonant, shaped by the intimate but profound personal narratives. The expressiveness in Alimpungat is carefully tempered, recalling the means of the impressionists that the French sculptor Auguste Rodin harnessed. This restraint does not suppress emotion; rather it reveals a grace under pressure with the artist, as it were, standing in a precarious position yet brimming with poise.

The series of fragmentary heads and busts in this exhibition evoke the spirit of Italian sculptor Medardo Rosso. Like Rosso’s works, De Laza’s sculptures are tactile and evocative, marked by a material sensuality that invites sensory engagement. However, while Rosso’s figures often appear passive and quiet, De Laza’s are animated by a sense of disorientation; they are perplexed, caught in a state between waking and sleep, or what in Tagalog is called “naalimpungatan” Though the term is occasionally used by Kinaray-a speakers, “na muragmuragan” is the more familiar equivalent among older generations of Karay-as or Ilonggos. Moreover, while Rosso favored plaster, wax, and bronze, De Laza employs resin and cast marble with a technical finesse in soft surface modeling to articulate a sculptural language that is uniquely his own. Like bronze, resin, as a man-made material, raises an interesting point when used in art that delves into the depths of human experience. De Laza skillfully compels this synthetic medium to yield to his hands, shaping figures imbued with palpable human expressions.

Some the works in this exhibition may initially provoke discomfort but when contemplated, they evolve into objects of empathy and understanding. Looking at them keenly underscore the transformative power of art, not as an intangible idea but as a purely personal experience. In Alimpungat, De Laza’s sculptures do more than mirror the artist’s internal world and personal struggles, they resound with universal truths: the yearning for connection, the desire for order, the tension between the demands of the world and the needs of the self.

De Laza is a graduate of the Bachelor of Arts (Sculpture) program at the University of the Philippines Diliman College of Fine Arts. His talent has been recognized through multiple accolades, including three consecutive placements in the Shell National Student Art Competition (2012-2014). In 2021, his entry in the Metro bank Art and Design Excellence (MADE) competition earned a Special Citation in the Sculpture Recognition Program.

De Laza’s artistic journey has also been enriched by several residencies, including the Tuklas Eskinita Art Residency at Casa San Pablo (2018), Eskinita Art Residency at Eskinita Art Farm (2022), and Linangan Art Residency (2023).

He was commissioned a few years ago by the Iloilo City government to restore the herms at Plaza Libertad because of his expertise in resin molding.

Alimpungat, on view until 15 September at Puluy-an Art Space in Barangay Bita Sur, Oton, marks the culmination of de Laza’s latest artist residency at the artist-run venue which began in July this year.