SCULPTURE

Before learning about this topic, I thought that sculpture is just defined as a type
of visual art than entails the development of three-dimensional aesthetic objects with length,
breadth, and height and can be made to seem exactly like a person or item, or it might be
made to reflect features and forms that the artist creates. An art of making statues through
carving or chiseling on wood or stone, by modeling on clay, or by casting on metal.

Now I know that the Philippines' colonial history have had a significant impact on the
preserving of the nation's literature historical tradition and constructed cultural heritage. The
colonial legacy has established a pattern for destroying ancient customs, modes of life,
buildings, and edifices in order to support the formation of a new set of global orders. Spaniard
missionaries set out to Baptize the Filipinos, they used the visual arts to great success. The
numerous visual art forms that marked the Spanish colonial period arose from technology
utilized in producing ritual paraphernalia. The holy part of almost every art form grew
considerably more developed than the secular. The Roman Catholic Church's vivid spectacle
aided the new missionaries in converting the indigenous.

Also, Santos were completed in the technique known as Encarnacion to make them look
more lifelike. In this case, gesso, a combination akin to plaster of Paris, was initially placed all
over the wood to conceal fractures and smooth the surface before applying flesh-colored paint.
The use of glass eyes and tears, as well as human or fiber hair wigs, added to the realism. If a
statue had drapery, it was polychromed or painted in many hues. Intricate flower motifs were
frequently painted on the robes. Gold-leaf embellishment was also used. Some researchers
have claimed that, given the absence of Chinese craftsmen from our coasts, the Filipinos must
have carved many these ivory santos themselves. This pose became so common that even
santos carved from enormous slabs of wood had a similar bend.

However, I still have questions about what does Filipino’s art specifically in
sculpture making different from other arts in the world, considering that Filipinos learned it from
the influence of the Colonizers; and what are the qualities of Sculpture made by Filipinos and
what makes Filipino sculptures Filipino?

As an Artist, I think this topic reminded me of what my learning log in pottery, the
Manunggul jar is a remarkable example of the Filipino people's ingenuity and sense of
craftsmanship, and it was created by an indigenous artist who is skilled at manufacturing pots,
which is a type of sculpture. It was also seen as an item that highlighted the function of water
sources such as seas, lakes, and rivers as a method of transport, commerce, and interaction
during the time of the region's forefathers. What Manunggul jar informs us about life in the past
is that Filipinos are talented and skilled at crafting crafts; their products usually signify
something and have a significance to them.