A THOMASIAN artist brought his childhood fascinations to life in an exhibit at the Manila Clock Tower Museum on Aug. 1.
Richard Buxani, an architecture alumnus, took inspiration from Filipino mythical creatures and angels to put together the sculptures for his exhibit “Katangi-tanging Saysay.”
“We were thinking of stories that I wanted to tell, especially those that fascinated me as a child,” said Buxani as he recalled conceptualizing the exhibit together with museum curator Elba Cruz.
“Folktales and angels fascinated me then and now so we worked on that theme for the show,” the sculptor added.
The tikbalang was one of the Filipino mythical creatures that Buxani featured in his works, especially in “Tatlong Gintong Buhok,” a 31x22x13-in. brass steel sculpture depicting a man battling a tikbalang for strands of its golden hair.
In Filipino folktale, plucking out three strands of a tikbalang’s hair, its source of strength, meant taming the creature.
Buxani also exhibited sculptures of angels, namely his “Victory of St. Michael,” a 41.5x30x15-in. copper and brass steel figure, and “Azrael,” a sculpture of two 32-inch angels.
His other sculptures on exhibit are “Breaking Free,” “Dare to be You,” and “Tikbalang.”
“They are my babies, each with their own stories…They are the regular people that come in irregular sizes,” Buxani told the Varsitarian.
The museum launched two other exhibits on Aug. 1: “Batang Maynila,” a photo exhibit by Jan Sy and Anson Yu, and “Dulog sa Langit” by 11 emerging and established artists.
The exhibits will run until Sept. 29.
