MANILA, Philippines — An architect by profession, artist Seth Corda continues to blend his technical knowledge with colorful strokes and patterns into his artworks.
Corda's first solo show, "Facets," is composed of paintings that evoke his architectural background while finding a natural structure perfected over years of precision.
In an exclusive interview with Philstar.com, Corda shared how he sees these structures in nature and how he manages to transfer them onto the canvas.
The artist was born and raised in the Philippines' "Art Capital" Angono, had aspirations of a career in fine arts but finished a degree in Architecture instead.
After obtaining his license in 2007, Corda moved to Singapore and practiced there for almost a decade before returning to his home country, "I did one year of private practice then after a while medyo stressful... doon ako nag-art, another passion of mine and nag tuloy-tuloy na lang."
All his works in "Facets" are acrylic on canvas, however, he initially started with oil paintings for two to three years before shifting to acrylic.
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Corda admitted he preferred oil painting although it's very difficult, pointing to possible mold issues and longer drying time, acknowledging that acrylic paint is more convenient.
The signature of a Corda artwork is his use of a palette knife that makes up all or a huge majority of his paintings, patterned to various shapes of different degrees.
The patterns appear like fish scales, which Corda applied to his first ever artwork. He still owns the artpiece to this day.
"I always start with a sketch, checking the proportions and everything before I paint," Corda explained. "Actually ang consuming dito ay 'yung color combination. Let's say for example 'yung red, hindi naman single red siya; there are four to six kinds, so gumagawa pa ako ng sample swatch."
Three pieces in "Facets" make up the "Endeavor" series, identifiable by being fully made with a palette knife in dominant shades of a color, save for a central golden speck.
"Based [sila] on sa pag-reach out sa goals ko and journey ko along the way. I want to show paano ko i-perfect ang style, that's why it's fully by palette knife," he continued. "'Yung earlier pieces ko especially if may waves may mga breaks, pero over time mas smooth na siya."
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A few artworks clearly show Corda's architectural background through rigid shapes and lines, however, the artist posited that even his abstract works are heavily influenced by architecture.
"When I design — planning roads, separating the land, do zoning — mai-inspire ka sa nature," Croda explained. "You look at the leaves, the veins are parang intersections ng roads. In Singapore, 'yung Esplanade is inspired by a fruit. Everything talaga when you talk about architecture, the inspiration is in nature."
Corda even compared doing architecture designs with painting, "I sketch, do a floorplan, look at the flow of spaces, it's a form of art already. It's just a different representation insteading of a building plan. Pero 'yung process nandoon pa rin."
Because architecture has often been viewed as an art, Philstar.com's parting question for Corda was if he ever viewed art as architecture.
"Masyado kasing technical ang architecture, it's quite broad so I'm not too sure. I've always thought of it the other way around," the artist laughed.
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