356. Moulding Characters of Godliness: DR. JOJO VALENCIA IV AND HIS CLAY SANTOS

DR. JOJO VALENCIA IV AND HIS CLAY SANTOS

For a long time now, Dr. Jojo Valencia IV has had an unconventional career, shaped by his lifelong passion for antiques and sacred art. As a child growing up in San Fernando, he held a fascination for the santos that were carried out for procession on the streets of the capital town every ‘Maleldo’ or Holy Week. In college, as a pre-med student in Baguio, he was asked to organize a “santo” exhibit at St. Louis University, which he successfully staged, and which prompted him to start collecting religious art. He pursued this antique collecting interest, while doing his medical practice, and parlayed that into a viable home business: buying and selling antiques. 

STA. INES / SAN JOSE

In recent years, with the supply of antiques drying up, and with extra time to spare, Dr. Valencia decided to dabble again in sketching, painting, and clay crafting. He had always had an artistic side; in his first year of high school, he would buy modelling clay sold at National Bookstore or Alemar’s and try his hand at molding and shaping santo figures. He remembered that his very first clay creation was a miniature replica of a San Jose, inspired by the image that was borne on procession in Bacolor in the 1970s.

SAN ROQUE / SAN JUAN SAHAGUN

Once he got started again with his clay modelling hobby, there was no stopping this talented doctor. “But the trouble with modelling clay is that it doesn’t really set and harden, and eventually the figure would become misshapen”, he said of his initial clay molding attempts. So, I had to look for another material”.

SAN VICENTE FERRER / SAN MIGUEL ARCANGEL

Dr. Valencia turned to using pottery clay, used in ordinary earthenware products.  Soon, he began moulding and shaping santo figures, which he based on existing Philippine church statuaries,  estampitas, and images wrought from memory. The results were very encouraging, and, as he found his groove,  he also found his own distinctive style, evident in his figures molded in the round, and in his paintings, as well.

KNEELING SAN ISIDRO

His terracotta santos are short, almost squat, with stocky legs, in the case of male saints. There is also a “discernible feeling of plumpness” in the santos’s  physique,  at first sight—even the female saints exude this Rubenesque vibe.

SAN CLEMENTE / KNEELING ANGEL

The vestments worn by the santos, that include the cape and tunic, show the lively exuberance and energy of Dr. Valencia’s style—with overly defined drapings, folds, and extra ruffling on hems and edgings. Indeed, the minutiae in the vestments are thorough and absorbing, borne out of the artist’s medical training perhaps, of paying meticulous attention to details. The figures are then hand-painted by Dr. Valencia himself, in oil paints. After awhile, he had hand-molded dozens of tabletop-size santos which he displayed around his house.

PLARIDEL CHURCH EXHIBIT

It would not be long before Dr. Valencia’s private hobby would be know and spread to his circle of friends and clients, more so when he started posting them online. He started receiving offers for his works not only from his acquaintances but also from priests, church benefactors, known art aficionados and collectors, who took note of his appealing ecclesiastical creations. Some even wanted him to take commissioned projects. The turning point was when he finally accepted an important sponsored assignment to make terra cotta images of the barangay patrons of Plaridel town some 15 years ago, which went on permanent exhibit at the Plaridel Church in Bulacan.

THE ECSTACY OF STA. TERESA DE AVILA

A few years back, Dr. Valencia experimented on using a different kind of clay more durable than terra cotta. He found a commercial clay product made in the U.S., which, when kiln-baked and dried, had the look, feel and hardness of real porcelain.

LA MUERTE DE SAN JOSE

The creation of the images took much longer though, for the clay blocks had to be ordered from California. After the tedious hand-sculpting process, the figure is allowed to dry, then shipped to a pottery kiln in Manila for firing. After which, the figures are spray-painted, resulting in a pristine white or off-white santo with a smooth, exquisite porcelain finish.

STO. ENTIERRO / STA. MARIA MAGDALENA

He is often asked to exhibit his “obras maestras” like paintings and sculptures; last year, he was one of the featured artists in a gallery exhibit in Taal, Batangas, entitled “Artes y Tradiciones Filipinas”.

SAN SEBASTIAN / SAN GABRIEL ARCANGEL

Today, the works of Dr. Jojo Valencia IV are prized by a few private collectors in Pampanga and beyond, not only for the inherent value of his unique sculptures.  They are sought after for the hand-made quality of his pieces, a manual tradition now slowly vanishing --which makes for the rarity of his pieces. He does not mind the long hours it takes to create one quality piece, as this doctor obviously has the patience of a saint.

Once the doctor steps out of his office , that’s when the artist in him, steps in—healing away his stress by molding images of faith, feats of clay that have given him the confidence to create more, and his clients, much personal satisfaction.  Science and art, they say are strange bedfellows, but for Dr. Jojo Valencia IV, there is no  such dissonance. In his chosen vocation and avocation, he has the best of both worlds.

VIRGEN DE LA CANDELARIA /SAN VICENTE ZARAGOZA

SOURCES:

Personal interview with Dr. J. Valencia, 11 May 2023, 

Photos courtesy if Dr. Jojo Valencia IV

342. CHRISTIAN LACAP: REVIVING ARTS IN THE MONASTIC TRADITION

 

THE HANDMADE MONASTIC-INSPIRED ART OF CHRISTIAN LACAP

When monasteries became centers for learning and religious training, there rose a need for houses of worship, books and devotional objects for the daily life of the community. 

SAMPLES OF OLD MONASTIC ART

Religious houses became enthusiastic patrons of the arts, and the strict commitment to manual work balanced with prayer, allowed many monks and nuns themselves to serve God as creative artists. Thus originated the so-called monastic arts created by men and women of the cloth.

AN ART CLASS UNDER A NUN, 1933

STUDENTS IN ART CLASSES, 1930s

When religious orders began putting up schools in the Philippines, art education became part of their curriculum. Most of the teachers were nuns themselves, and so they introduced many forms of devotional art to their students that require embroidery, painting, decorative paper tooling such as tole and quilling, and assemblages of sacred scenes in shadow boxes.

SAN PEDRO, APO IRO OF APALIT

FRAMED ESTAMPITAS

VIRGEN OF ANTIPOLO

Many of these artistic outputs from the 1920s thru 1950s were used to decorate home altars and rooms, showcases of skilled hands and religious fervor.  In antique shops, elaborate pieces command quite a tidy sum—like those that feature exquisite wired mother-of-pearl floral arrangements that must have required long hours of deft work.

SAN AGUSTIN

STA. ANA, FATIMA, LOURDES

The creation of such art have ceased to be with the advent of modern education, but a few artists are quietly reviving the tradition. Christian Lacap of Mabalacat is one such self-taught artist who is slowly building a portfolio of contemporized monastic art that is gaining notice among a small circle of collectors.

STA. FILOMENA

VIRGEN DE PORTA VAGA

His decorated shadow box art, 2-dimensional representations of dressed santos and biblical characters, old estampitas bordered with quilled paper, among others—are truly inspired creations, cleanly executed, neatly-laid out and beautifully composed.

VIRGEN DE LOS REMEDIOS

SAN JUDAS TADEO / SAN MARTIN DE PORRES

VIRGEN DEL CARMEN / SAN VICENTE FERRER

SAN ANTONIO DE PADUA

His creative flair began years ago as a teenager in Mabalacat when he was asked to help decorate the Divine Grace Parish Church during the annual fiesta, Holy Week and Christmas celebrations. Soon, he was also assisting in the dressing up of santos and floral decorations of carrozas.

STO. NINO DE MALOLOS

SAN LUIS GONZAGA

SAN GUILLERMO

At age 22, he landed a job in the Middle East, working at the King Salman Bin Abdulazizal Saud Palace in Jeddah for the royal household from 2009-2011. As part of the housekeeping staff, Lacap was tasked with the floral arrangements at the social events of the princess.

LA PURISIMA / VIRGEN MILAGROSA DE BADOC

LA DIVINA PASTORA / STA. CATALINA DE SIENA

After the contract ended, he stayed for 5 more years, finding employment in a flower shop in Riyadh, before working as cashier/waiter in a Filipino restaurant in Jeddah. He returned to the Philippines in 2018, and was hired to work under the City Tourism office in 2019.

LA PRESENTACION

Lacap’s  visit to the Archdiocesan Museum of San Fernando which has quite a big collection of Shadow Box Art,  introduced him to an old art form which became his fascination. He studied how to dress up flat pictures using real fabric, folded to simulate real drapes. He also observed the kinds of decorations used, which consisted mostly of paper flowers. These, he learned to make from scratch.

QUILLED ANTIQUE SCAPULAR

1ST WORK: QUILLED ESTAMPITA

It was at this point too that an acquaintance introduced him to the old art of paper quilling. By looking at examples online, Lacap copied and perfected the technique of rolling paper strips, crimping them to form shapes, and then assembling these using glue. His first two attempts of framed quilled art were sold immediately. In time, he was also asked to show his works in religious exhibits.

Through referrals and word of mouth, Lacap managed to get commissions from customers, mostly sacred art collectors. He did a lot of experimentation in the absence of materials. For example, he simulated “lagang” flowers (mother-of-pearl) using ordinary masking tape.  He has also looked into the use of feathers, flowers made of strung beads, and found objects such as twigs, embroidery scraps, old metal halos, and even human hair! 

    RETOOLED LEAVES & PAPER FLOWERS

MASKING TAPE FLOWERS

By mixing and combining quilling, fabric manipulation, appliquing and unique floral decorating, he could transform a flat base paper figure in one or two weeks, into a treasured work of art, worthy to be a museum piece. In the absence of old holy pictures to frame, he uses pictures and prints from old religious programs, calendars, and similar sources. The antique frames are mostly provided by his patrons. His basic tools are the usual glue gun, paper, floral tape, fabrics, trimmings--and lots of patience.

STO, NINO DE MALOLOS

VIRGEN DE CANDELARIA

SAN JOSE

Recently resigned from his government job,  Lacap has decided to pursue his creative passion full-time. At the moment, he is still finishing some commissioned works, and he hopes to open his on-line FB-based small sacred art business soon, under the name “ARTE SAGRADA”.

MINIATURE STO. NINO

SAN PEDRO / STO. NINO

On this spread are some of the works completed by Christian Lacap, who, in his own special way, without formal training and background in fine arts,  is reviving the vanishing tradition of monasteries from centuries past.

CREDITS: ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF CHRISTIAN LACAP

For inquiries, contact: https://www.facebook.com/xtian.lacap.5

338. ARTE MEXICANO: A Sampling of Mexican Religious Art

18TH C. POLYCHROMED AND GILDED WOODEN BAS RELIEF MINIATURE

Traditional belief has it that, at the time of San Agustin's death, two angels plucked out his heart and placed it on a vessel. 

The Philippines and Mexico are linked by the common thread of history: both are part of the New Spanish Empire—Nueva España—that involved vast areas in North, Central and South America, and which expanded to the Philippines.  

In its quest to foster trade between the East Indies and the America across the Pacific, Spain sent Miguel López de Legazpi to the Philippines in 1565, but it was Andrés de Urdaneta, who found an easier sailing route from the Philippines  to Mexico,  facilitating the Manila-Acapulco Galleon Trade. Products such as silk fabrics, gold, silver, porcelain ware,  spices and gold were shipped to the Americas from Asia leading to vibrant,  commercial exchanges.

Bernard of Offida (b. 7 Nov. 1604/d. 22 Aug. 1694), born Domenico Peroni , was an Italian religious from the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin. He lived  in servitude to his fellow friars in various capacities and he was noted for his strong Eucharistic dedication and for his holiness.

ICON PAINTING ON WOOD.

The Virgen del Carmen and Ntra. Sr. de Soledaad de Porta Vaga are important Philippine devotions in Manila and Cavite.

The Spanish conquest also introduced both Filipinos and Mexicans to a new religion—Christianity—which spawned new religious art. Casting away their ancient idols, Filipinos and Mexicans began creating new images of their new faith copied from ancient templates brought by Spanish missionaries—carving in wood, painting in native pigments and then oils,  engraving and printing on paper.

As such, there are striking similarities in the artistic output of both Spanish Philippines and Mexico, and these fine examples of obra sagrada Mexicana—santos, relieves, laminas—clearly show that; some can even pass for Philippine folk art, and vice versa,

POLYCHROMED CARVING IN RELIEF

FOKSY PAINTING ON CANVAS, 18th c.

ST. MICHAEL, oil painting, 19thc,

ST. CATHERINE, oil painting, 19th c.

SOURCES:

ALL PHOTOS: ARTE MEXICANA MAGAZINE, 1961