A new exhibit is set to grace the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) on March 12, 2025. Ethereal Resilience: Sculpted Stories is an innovative curation of works that utilize the second most commonly used material in human history—concrete.
The exhibit tells stories of people, places, and traditions through a dynamic array of media. Reymundo F. Dela Cruz, the artist behind the exhibit, refers to his works as sculpted acrylic paintings, as they combine paint, metal, canvas, and semento, the Filipino loanword for cement.
Born in San Jose del Monte, Bulacan, Dela Cruz earned a degree in Marketing Management from De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde in 2011. He started as a security officer and eventually rose to management roles in the security sector. He later founded a company specializing in commercial pots and manufacturing sales. Currently, he serves as a board member of Likha ng Bulacan Entrepreneurship Inc. and presides over the art-civic organization Obra ni 1 Bayan.
Notably, the NCCA Gallery exhibition marks Dela Cruz’s first solo show.
More than a mere display of mixed media, the exhibit is a testament to the regeneration of natural ecologies, the empowerment of women, and the upliftment of the common citizen. Dela Cruz believes that while his works are pre-conceived, they ultimately evolve into a final, textured abstraction—a calcified yet ethereal resolution.
Ethereal Resilience: Sculpted Stories runs from March 12 to 30 at the NCCA Gallery. Admission is free to the public from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
