Art critic Cid Reyes once described Glenn Cagandahan’s works as done with “fantastical visions,” with diverse themes from Philippine personages and legends to contemporary culture, which are often executed into steampunk assemblages, in that style that combines history and technology inspired by science fiction.

“From out of an assembly line of mechanical parts, dazzling in their fractal repetition at once an abstraction and representation of Man as Machine, or The Machine as Monster that gnaws at man’s soul, Glenn Cagandahan proffers his newfound vision of art—species in itself of theatrical choreography in the way the molded figures, with their smooth, mask-like faces, attach space with their dramatic stances,” said Reyes.

Cagandahan, a Paete, Laguna, native, is a product of the University of the Philippines (UP) College of Fine Arts who first tried his hand at sculptural works through the restoration of public sculptures inside UP, which were assigned to him and his fellow students then by their professor Ginny Dandan.

This exposure, he said, led him to discover a method of restoring damaged wooden sculptures by combining Epoxy clay and sawdust, the same materials he used when he ventured into the world of visual art close to 20 years ago.

Everyday life

Since then, Cagandahan’s works expanded from wooden sculptures to mixed media and assemblages. He likes to execute works related to the Filipinos’ everyday life, family scenes and relationships.

His oeuvre also includes those with religious themes mainly because of his Christian faith, being a son of a Christian pastor and a pastor himself.

His art is definitely Filipino, and most…