Romancing wood

Reverence for wood has been a desideratum for some time now — even before I actually stumbled upon a book of that title, decades ago. I can’t seem to find it, alas, victimized as we both have been by that moveable feast of abodes and bookshelves.

In any case, I’ve long wished to produce one to be titled “Kahoy: Romancing Philippine Wood.” Why, it could start with bamboo and its pliancy, beauty and strength, maybe move on to the timber that went into the balanghais as epic vessels of our genetic meandering, as well the Chinese junks thence European galleons that came a-visiting.

Foreign materials and craftsmanhip surely raised curiosity among our wood artisans. Then there are our indigenous hardwoods and softwoods that have been carved into utilitarian works of art.

Among artist-friends, the ones I envy most have been sculptors, especially those who work with wood: National Artist Billy Abueva, the late great Jerri Araos, Rey Paz Contreras and Benji Reyes among them.

It was with pleasant surprise that I received an invite to an art exhibit opening on Sept. 23 at The Crucible, Art Walk, 4th floor, Megamall featuring works in wood by Donato Mejia Alvarez.  

Now, I’ve known Donat to be much of a Renaissance Man of sorts from Peyups Diliman from way back: a book designer, eventual publisher, himself a poet and littérateur, a photographer, among other gentle preoccupations. But I didn’t known that he was also a wood sculptor.

Regrettably, I was out of town when the show opened, with many common friends in attendance. And I still have to find time to check out dear Donat’s works at the gallery. More’s the pity, as I increasingly realized, when I started seeing photos of his visually fetching works posted by friends on social media.

A writer-friend, Atty. Nicolas Pichay, Palanca Hall of Famer, shared a wonderful review of Donat’s show. I’ve asked Nic’s permission to share it here in turn, so that we may increase the chances of having interested parties still catching up with Donat’s exhibit.    

 Here’s Nic’s terrific write-up:

“Congratulations to one of the most underrated sculptors of his generation, Donato Mejia Alvarez. Ay, his talent is like a well of plenty. He is a magician who has conjured, poetry, stories, paintings, design of books — and now, after a long gestation —wondrous wooden sculptures amorphously shaped, sensuous like a woman’s behind, yet hefty and full like a man’s bicep, and preposterously deep with titles that ruminate on life, morality, science and mortality.

“In one such sculpture (which is turning out to be a crowd favorite) a hand seems to hide a flying avian — an image that resonates on the many levels of hope, prayer, work, as well as incarceration, dominance and despair.

“Then there is a group of ambiguously-formed beings arranged around a rock obelisk, their movements implying forms of being and becoming; their similarity referencing community, but also we find in their pre-historic shapes, an anticipatory tingle of change, disparity, and — as it reaches various stages of development — some sense of corruption and decay.

“Finally, there are pieces that play with the sign for infinity: the number 8 lying down on its side. Alvarez is the first to admit that these are ‘one of the most abused forms in sculpture.’ But Alvarez’ version is his own. Placing the centrifugal centers off kilter, Alvarez’ sculptures imply the frustrated meetings of the past and the present in a world constantly changing, not only in material form but in points of view.

“In Alvarez’ version of infinity, the romantic notion of being together forever is refracted to accommodate the reality of disjuncts in the continuity of time.

“Let me explain. Letting my fingers run the surface of the sculpture, there is a point where the fingers encounter a chasm. The sculpture physicalizes what would have been, if the situation were real, that whoever is doing the running in an endless stream of time must make that leap of faith.

“The over-all effect is that the viewer senses the dynamism in the broken connection far more than if the ends of the 8 were connected to each other. For all these, Alvarez’ sculpture goes beyond being dead objects. In his hands, the wood has transcended into poetry.”

See how wonderful that reads? 

I got even more intrigued by the quality of Donat’s works, especially how they would feel in the hand. I appreciated Nic’s review, and told him so on his own FB page, making sure to also tag another friend — who happens to be presently trying his hand at wood crafting now that he’s re-established a home here.

This is Edd Aragon, who till late last year served as the much-celebrated editorial cartoonist of Sydney Morning Herald, for which work he has won numerous international awards. Also a painter and musician, the creative master has recently applied his boundless energy and artist’s zeal to reshaping log stumps he has collected from typhoon aftermath to aftermath. 

Well, that scavenging business I happen to share with Edd, except that I have to hire a handyman to saw off, level up, sand and polish the heavy, rugged stumps I manage to pick up around our neighborhood. The last big storm rewarded us with trunk pieces from fallen flame tree and fallen talisay. Most of these are turned into stools and low tables, a tall, twisted/gnarled bric-a-brac hanger on occasion.

Edd has advised us on applying oil to the wood surface instead of always relying on varnish, as protector, preserver, and polish. I tried some linseed oil I found in a small bottle, on both the wood species we were close to finishing. Somehow, both surfaces reacted unfavorably to the linseed oil I procured. Back to the drawing board, then.

As for Edd, the pieces he shows as a continuing series of photos keep making me drool with envy. He works on them himself, turning a gnarled stump into a wooden facsimile, enlarged, of a heel-flattened can. Now its mouth can hold a real beer can replete with contents.

 As he reports articulately, he has this energy going inside him “to commune with wood, call it fossil fuel!” He says he unlooses Gordian knots with chisels, and talks of how he’s been inspired by great Pinoy wood artists like Benji Reyes and the carver Willy Tadeo Layug.

Edd lets on that it’s the cross-grain that sucks in much of the polishing oil, that linseed oil has become so diffcult to come by locally, so that his partner Menchie Maneze had to bring him a gallon from Oz-land. He describes tung oil as “reddish brown & is commonly used for Chinese furniture, esp. the antiquated ones,” and that he prefers linseed because of its yellowish tint that does not discolor wood. He’s still looking for lemon oil to mix 50-50 with linseed.

I also overhear counsel such as “Try diluting your linseed oil with turpentine if you find the viscosity too thick.” That’s from Benji.

Edd’s now working on what he calls “the second of a series of fossil bas relief carvings on Dao wood.” He notes how he’s applied “prelim chisel cuts on the illusory oblique view of an ammonite.” Ah, again, such poetry.

Further, Edd Aragon writes: “I’ll give it another week of detailed work before extensive sanding, polishing, and oil staining. I find this slab of wood very sexy.”

Yes. All so enviable, this mastery of/over wood by friends like Benji Reyes, Donat Alvarez and Edd Aragon. And yes, slabs or stumps of wood are indeed very sexy. Hope my handyman and I manage to turn our own cache of found wood even sexier.