Tabula Rasa | Cedeño Sculptures: Figurative stories

Brando Cedeño is a homegrown Davao artist – a sculptor, a painter, and a photographer. While he studied painting and photography in a local art school, he is a self-taught sculptor. He finds it fascinating that sculptures have a different level of art influence in culture, values, faith and lifestyle. For more than a decade, he has pursued honing his skills in sculpture.

“I want to capture the likeness of the subjects in my sculptures, and that its story and message would really come through my artwork, and touch the feelings and sensibilities of those who are looking at it. Each figure has a unique story to tell.” – Brando Cedeño

In Brando Cedeño’s pursuit to capture the likeness of his subjects, he has dedicated his time in refining his skill and his art style that focus on making subjects look as realistic and true-to-life as possible. And that the unique story that each figure will tell – be it a feeling and perception of love, respect, gratitude, desire, joy, admiration and worship, will be meaningful in a person’s life.

He is also fascinated with the human figure when he first started to work on sculptures. His dedication and focus in improving his skill have earned him an extensive experience in clay process and stone cast resin production through the years. He renders fine and detailed touch in clay sculptures in the exact feature of images and replicas. For this, he has received many commissions on life-size corporate and family crests, bust sculptures and monuments of people who have made significant contribution to communities including school founders, city founders, and other dignitaries. These monuments are installed in public places in Mindanao.

He is currently working on several commissions. Among them is The Way of the Cross which is also known as the Stations of the Cross. He uses stone cast resin to recreate the life-size figures (approximately 6 feet tall) of the series of sixteen stations retracing the steps of Jesus Christ on His sorrowful journey to Golgotha. He wants to be precise and accurate in his sculptures of the visual appearance of scenes and figures in each station to inspire people in their devotions.

Brando has produced several bodies of work in clay and cast stone resin that show different splices of life experiences and expressions. Among his sculptures includes: En Movimiento (size: 3 feet x 15 feet), The Ascension of the Lord (size: 14 feet tall), The Divine Mercy of The Lord (size: 10 feet tall), The Lion’s Gate in Buda (size: 4 feet tall), and Ang Serena sa Secdea (size: 6 feet tall). He has also joined numerous collaborative exhibits since 1995 including the recent Davao-wide exhibit where he created three sculptures, namely:
Title: Man, Wildlife and Nature: A Moment of Stasis
Size and Material: 12 feet tall / Stone Cast
Title: Opposing Equal Forces
Size and Material: 14 feet tall / Stone Cast
Title: A Perpetual Quest
Size and Materials: 18 feet tall / Stone Cast Resin
View Brando Cedeño’s sculptures and other artworks on Facebook Page @casaescultura.
By Cecile Cedeño

Photos from left to right: Artist/sculptor Brando Cedeño with his work of an oversize bust of Jesus Christ. Life size sculpture of a school founder. The sculptor coating a wood-finish look of the VIlla Oro crest.

THE MICHAEL ANGELO OF MINDANAO By Dunky Munda, Jr.
Brando Cedeño, Tabula rasa’s pride in sculpture, is fast becoming a name in the renaissance-style, classically realistically sculptured statues. He is the only one that I know that creates dramatic, anatomically-correct bigger-than-life statues. A prime example is the 15ft. “Ressurected Christ” in front of the GSIS Catholic church. One of his recent commissions is more-than-life size statues of the stations of the Cross. When finished, these will attract hundreds of devotees during holy week. Brando, a graduate of Ford Academy, started out as a painter and an excellent one at that. But we found his artistic calling in creating sculptural figures- first, in clay then moulding these to create sculpture in long-lasting resin fiberglass which he finishes in bronze natural Stone.
I believe that Cedeño will eventually be the MICHAEL ANGELO of not only Mindanao- but of ASIA. Of course, I’m biased.