MICHAEL Cacnio introduces his series “KWADRO” which features thirty miniatures in the round sculptures, depicting the simple joys of Filipino life under coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) quarantine..
Two works introduce the beginning of Filipinos’ experience of the pandemic — panic buying that gripped most cities, hoarding of food at home, public feeling of great respect to our heroic frontliners, and the call to stay home to help them.
However, majority of the works showcase how they coped and even flourished despite the pandemic such as artists make art in the solitude of their studios, families get together, and birthday celebrations.
Cacnio captures the Filipino spirit — greater than any crisis, founded in the strength of social ties of family and friends, simple, joyful and ever bright. It is a sprit that shines even in the darkest of times.
Cacnio secures these embodiments of the Filipino spirit in dark, luxurious, and rare kamagong wood; one of the toughest, rarest, and most elegant of tropical hardwoods indigenous to the Philippines. As his sculptures are eloquent in their depiction of the Filipino core with their capacity to inspire joy, the frame is equally apt as a metaphor for the Filipino spirit too — naturally elegant, simple, local, enduring, and special.
When systems fail and most of the world worries, the Filipino is resilient, resourceful, and faces crisis with calm, courage, and most especially, with that warm spark of joy. This is why Kwadro will endure. This is what Cacnio adds to the already rich history of the genre.
“Kwadro” now showing at Art Lounge Manila at The Podium, Mandaluyong City from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. until September 8.