DUDDLEY DIAZ, through works like the prize-winning 'Prusisyon', aims to bring back the awe of mythology in today's youth.

Twenty-five years in anybody’s life is a lot of time to squeeze into a book. But that is exactly what has been accomplished in “The Art of Duddley Diaz”, a book that looks back at the life of this renowned Filipino sculptor.

The first volume in Vibal Foundation’s “Philippine Art Now” series, “The Art of Duddley Diaz” seeks to showcase contemporary Filipino artists.

Written by renowned art critic, Dr. Alice Guillermo, the compact book details Diaz’ growth as an artist since the time the annual Lenten processions in his hometown of San Mateo, Rizal, inspired him to make figures of saints out of clay.

“The Art of Duddley Diaz” also features numerous photos of Diaz’ works, as well as an introduction written by Dr. Patrick Flores, curator of the the University of the Philippines-Diliman’s Jorge B. Vargas Museum, and a foreword by Corazon Alvina, National Museum director.

The book was launched in line with the exhibit entitled “Messenger of the Gods: A Duddley Diaz Retrospective” that was held recently at the Vargas Museum.

“This comes at a very important time for me,” says Diaz. “It’s been 25 years since I’ve been in the College of Fine Arts. It’s very important for me because it’s a way of looking back and assessing myself and what I have done all these years. I need to know if I’ve grown or not.”

YOUNG SANTERO

Diaz has certainly done a lot as an artist -- from the time that the clay sculptures he made at six years old were exhibited at the Rizal Art Exhibit in the Pasig Capitol Building when he was 13. In high school, he was tutored by no less than National Artist Napoleon Abueva, through a scholarship from the Cultural Center of the Philippines.

Diaz’ mother would keep the clay saints he made as a child, while his father would take him to parts of Old Quiapo and let him watch the santeros work on the wooden saints.

“My father used to take me to old churches in Intramuros and around Manila,” he recalls. “He would bring me to the workshops of the santeros in old Quiapo. They would make these pieces of wood into very elaborate santos. I would see parts of the santos hanging all over the place, like heads, feet, and hands. The glass eyes looked very real. I loved it.”

A year before graduating from the University of the Philippines College of Fine Arts, Diaz was awarded with a gold medal by the Art Association of the Philippines for “Prusisyon,” a sculpture showing small bust heads carrying a dead Christ.

His departure from the country would come after winning a scholarship to study in Italy to take up four years of sculpture and two years of painting at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Florence. Diaz would eventually find himself settling there and establishing a studio in the Florentine countryside.

His work has been as warmly accepted in Italy as it has been here. In fact, the church of San Tommaso a Lama in Perugia, Italy, is the home of his “Stations of the Cross,” a wooden relief series which depicts Diaz’ unconventional interpretation of Christ -- as a young, beardless androgyne with brown skin. This achievement, says Diaz, was not without risks.

“It’s difficult because I was in Europe and they already have this very strong ideas on things and it’s been around for so long. The figures of Christ are these blond figures with blue eyes. I represented Christ with brown skin and androgynous,” he explains. “It was a risk to show that and make them accept it. When I go to these churches and look at the people contemplating my sculpture, I don’t know how to feel. How could they be praying to this Christ which is different from the traditional figure? But I can see the sincerity of their contemplation and it’s also pleasing for me.”

BODY OF WORK TO BE PROUD OF

Diaz was heavily involved in the production of the book, providing more than 300 photographs and checking on the layout. The experience, he says, was an opportunity for him to learn something new.

“This is the first time I am into serious bookmaking. The publisher and the collaborators were there, and I learned so many things because they see so many things that I would overlook because they have technical eyes. I am very satisfied with the outcome of the book and I am more attuned now if I were to make another book,” he says.

He says that making the book has also provided him with an insightful look into the body of work he has produced throughout the years.

“I am very happy about my body of work, but I think there are still more things to study,” he says. “But I am also happy and glad that the feeling is still the same when I was doing my clay santos. I still feel that ticklish feeling when I do a sculpture. It’s like playing around in a more serious way and talking about more serious things.”

Diaz also shares his hope that the book not only introduces his work to an entirely new audience, but also awakens in them the sense of awe that we all used to experience as children.

“I want people to think of the past and learn from it. I remember when I was a child, we were a dozen children in a big compound, from four to seven years old, and it’s really fantastic to see this expression of awe on a child’s face, which you don’t see now because they seem to know everything.
It’s only been two decades when there were no Playstations, and the lolos and the lolas were telling us stories about legends in the area, about Bernardo Carpio, and you accept these legends in a very dogmatic way. Life isn’t just about working or earning, and I want to provide them these myths again,” he ends.