After two years of working fulltime in corporate, 34-year-old artist Joshua Limon Palisoc realized that that world wasn’t for him, so he decided to go into art full time. “I guess the feeling, the desire to put more time into doing art finally came because it’s something I’ve always aspired to do,” Palisoc said, and he has done so for three years now.
Joshua Palisoc before his art installations at Ayala Museum (Photo by Lem Atienza)
The transition from corporate to art wasn’t difficult, not also because he already has the means to support this move but also because he already knows very well the medium or various media of expression. In his hometown of Nueva Ecija, his family owns a junk shop, so growing up, he has been drawn naturally to the various materials around him, and little did he know that he would be creating sculptures out of them later—metals, bottles, glass, plastics and even light diodes.
Joshua Palisoc’s sculpture at Ayala Museum’s OpenSpace inspired by the human body (Photo by Lem Atienza)
“My art has always been self-portrait,” Palisoc said. Inspired by the human body, he considers it as a vessel. “It’s not just about the depiction of the outside, but also an expression of what’s inside,” he said.
With this point of view, this UP College of Fine Arts graduate put up a pop-up exhibition recently at Ayala Museum, featuring six sculptures made specifically for this event. The talks with Ayala started last year, and it took him two to three months to create this six-piece collection in his workshop in Nueva Ecija. His pieces were on display at Ayala Museum’s OpenSpace area, where the public could enjoy and be fascinated with contemporary art in the hustle and bustle of the Makati business district.
Palisoc beside ‘Ginhawa’ depicting the moon goddess of Philippine mythology (Photo by Lem Atienza)
The sculptures were mostly made of stainless steel, glass and LED lights, entitled Dambana ng Kapwa, inspired by Philippine folklore and mythology. Palisoc admitted that his collection was a form of rebellion. “Our folklore and mythology are supposedly a part of our spirituality, but because of pop culture, it has been reduced into horror entertainment.” He decided to bring back the spirituality in folklore and mythology.
Palisoc considers the human body a vessel: ‘It’s not just about the depiction of the outside, but also an expression of what’s inside’ (Photo by Lem Atienza)
‘Ginhawa’ sculpture (Photo by Lem Atienza)
In the six-piece collection, the work he is most drawn to is Ginhawa, a round sculpture made of blue glass with steel and LED light. The sculpture depicts the moon goddess of Philippine mythology.
Three of Palisoc’s sculptures can now be seen at Pinto Art Museum and Gallery in Antipolo.
“Ginhawa represents a state of ease in body, mind, and spirit, embracing rest as a necessity rather than a reward or a means to productivity,” Palisoc explains. “It acts as an anting-anting against the fast-paced, exhausting lifestyle imposed by capitalism, challenging the notion that self-worth is tied to productivity.”
The LED lights give the glass sculpture a radiant halo effect, echoing the moon goddess Kulalaying’s cool light that’s associated with vitality and Kaginhawaan.
The sculptures were mostly made of stainless steel, glass and LED lights. This one is entitled ‘Dambana ng Kapwa’ inspired by Philippine folklore and mythology.
After his Ayala Museum show, three of Palisoc’s creations can now be seen at the Pinto Art Museum in Antipolo.
