Cris Velasco

Cris Velasco is a veteran sculptor from Sabang, Bulacan and artistic purveyor and pillar of Lakan Sining Bulacan. He is well-known for his miniature wood sculptures of Hispanic Bulacena and in recent years, miniature fishing villages wrought in metal.

Velasco’s early years in his hometown Bulacan were spent visiting ancestral houses near Baliuag Church, where he would stop and admire the classic Spanish colonial era architecture: solid wooden doors, stone archways, and elegant facades. This memory of craftsmanship awakened in him his artistic interest and talent as he pursued a degree in Painting at University in the East. In search of further artistic study, Velasco’s return home saw to him revisiting past haunts and he was struck with a kind of melancholy at the once tall and proud historic vistas slowly crumbling and succumbing to the deterioration of time and progress. Here, it becomes clear to him his pledge and commitment as an artist: to preserve the value of history and to restore a portion of our culture’s heritage, in his own way.

Setting to the task of immortalizing these Spanish-influenced edifices is an enormous undertaking. Velasco spends an extensive amount of research into era-specific architecture, material study, and composition. The actual sculpting is the most detail-oriented work he does, a synthesis of pre-work and talent unfolding on the canvas. Infusing the paint with unorthodox materials, he forms the texture of stucco and adobe and brings out the spirit of haciendas and Mission-style buildings. His works are beautiful expressions of liminal spaces – doorways, windows, and archways – a perfect snapshot frozen in time.

A master craftsman, Velasco is even a more resourceful artist. His travels to nearby fishing villages become a point of inspiration in his current works. He sources hard-to-find driftwood from these communities as a foundation for these intricate tableaus. Every piece is painstakingly hand-crafted; every leaf cut and hammered, soldered onto awaiting branches. He populates the village with interesting details, like sand metal, and the results are gilded and brass masterpieces that encourages the viewer to walk and gaze at every structure. With durability in mind, his works are tactile pieces that are designed to be touched and to be experienced.