Whang-od Sculpture

I am a visual artist based in Broomfield, Colorado. My work represents my life, my faith, and my beliefs taking a very personal approach to my subject matter. I draw on my experience of living in the United States, my Filipino heritage, and my aspirations for the community that I serve. The diversity of life, embodied through elements of courage, love, beauty, and strength, is an inspiration and each sculpture shows admiration for the person featured. I often focus on courageous people as my subjects, empathizing with each individual story and struggle. This connects to my own approach to life and my journey as a refugee lawyer in the United States where I advocated for victims of forced migrations. The Faces of Courage is a body of work in bronze representing courageous people who struggled, fought, and suffered to give hope, freedom, equality, and love. My process includes working in clay to create portraitures and relief panels. I then cast these in bronze, an enduring material that retains the fine detail of my finger marks within the clay made during the modeling phase. I always start with a clear and compelling impetus of an idea, which is worked through quickly as a drawing before moving into three dimensions in clay. I see my art-making as a spiritual practice that creates an intentional collection of my thoughts, experiences, dreams, fantasies, and admirations. My aim is to make art that evokes emotions of pain, suffering, and struggles, by providing the chance for hope, freedom, courage, and joy. I received my art trainings from various art institutions such as New York Art Students League, Houston Baptist University (HBU) in the United States. She is currently attending the Barcelona Academy of Arts in Sculpture.