Eric Zamuco’s “Working on the Mountain” Exhibit

Multi-awarded, Mixed media artist Eric Zamuco presents his 6th solo exhibit for Silverlens Gallery entitled “Working on the Mountain.” He holds an MFA in Sculpture from the University of Missouri-Columbia and was an artist-in-residence at the Centre Intermondes, France, in 2015.

The show’s title, “Working on the Mountain,” was taken from NVM Gonzales’ book of essays. The author set down that writing was akin to making to the carved temples in India. Hypothetically, the discipline is like “carving away at the mountain of reality.” Art-making, in general, is much like this assiduous deconstruction and construction all at the same time. What is left is what can illuminate the everyday.

Eric Zamuco’s five mixed-media assemblages called “Templo,” composed of linked plexiglass sheets, wood, and metal rods from gathered studio detritus and leftovers from days marking life spent in isolation. On the face of it, the threaded rods hold seemingly random objects and images together but connect by way of medical shorthand for anatomy, diagnosis, and procedure terms found in each one. Symbols for words like corpus, oxygen, vaccine, and transfusion appear and knit some of the layers of the works together. These are all drawn from the Thirteen Artists Awardee’s heaps of objects, images, and materials. All arranged like an inverted stupa or a ziggurat. Not obvious as each temple is assembled off-grid, suggesting a breaking down and an effort to hold together.

The artist thinks that the temple can be equated to a body, a home, a community, or even a nation. He says, “The pandemic has laid bare what transpires in these spheres band spaces. And one can only wonder how things could have been if each space was regarded as scared.” He says that healing only begins with admitting a broken system, and one must turn these on their heads. This is a revelation and what is left are the realities in our persona and collective temples.

Eric Zamuco’s “Working on the Mountain” is currently on view at Silverlens Galleries, 2263 Don Chino Roces Avenue, Makati City. 

Notes about the Contributor

Daniel Lampa

Art enthusiast and into Fashion, French Culture, Mid-century modern design and spends a lot of his time curating his home in Manila and LA. He lives with his 3 dogs, Coco, Yohji and Junya.