EDUARDO CASTRILLO, Philippines ❧

It is always an honour for one to know a great artist, and to know Ed Castrillo is to know great honour. He is a quiet, intense, charming gentilhomme who has such passion for his work and art, and it is always an educational experience to spend time with him hearing him talk about practically every subject under the sun with deep wisdom and understanding. My favourite subjects of discussion with him and his wife Jeannie Javelosa will always be about art and culture and the influence and inspiration both Asia and Europe derive from each other through the centuries.

Ed has been creating amazing monumental sculptures. Huge, emphatic declarations that carry with them not only a statement, but a story. He had the opportunity at one time in the past to be based internationally and was feted by the who's who in the international art and collectors scene, and was once the toast of the art world in New York, but as a young man burning with ideals and hope for his country, the Philippines, he wanted first and foremost to be known where he was born. He had wanted to stay a resident artist in his homeland so the world would come to realise that the Philippines carried within her bosom one of the world's brightest and most talented shining star. Ed's monumental sculptures can be found outside of the Philippines these days in Poland, Singapore and Hong Kong. His moveable sculptural pieces are collected the world over.

Recently, Ed returned to an original artform he loved and worked on when he first ventured into art as a young boy. He moves from gargantua expressions to miniscule delights - jewellery.


At this point, I want to mention one thing ... Ed thoughtfully sent me a small but precious gift one day of a ring he designed. There was a lot of work, tension and stress at the time with a project I was putting together, and out of his concern, this beautiful ring came surprisingly to me from him, out of the blue. I did not even know he was aware of the tremendous amount of stress I was under at that time. Now, I've promoted artists frequently through the years, and at one stage, in the early years, I regretfully promoted an Old Master style English artist who really didn't have the heart and genuine spirit of someone you could truly appreciate and admire, not only for the execution of their work, but the purity of their spirit. So it's always necessary for me now to know an artist through and through, not only to understand his work, but to glimpse his soul. One needs to know that the art form was created by pure gifted spirit and not by clever commercial deception. To discern the two, it takes insight, and that can only be gleaned from the exposure and understanding of harsh experiences and the lessons they carry.

I have been monitoring Ed's work through the years, and his book "Breaking Out, an Eduardo Castrillo sculptural tour" by Alfredo Roces (©1995 Inyan Publishers, Inc.) tells it all. It traces Ed's story from when he was a child under a difficult step-mother who deprived him of a happy childhood, to his age at 29 in 1971, when he was awarded, all in the same year, the nation's top art honor, the Republic Cultural Heritage Award, the Araw ng Maynila Centennial Award, the Jaycees' Ten Outstanding Young Men (TOYM) Award, and the Outstanding Makati Resident Award. To top it all, that very same auspicious year for Ed also saw him named the Philippines' representative in sculpture to France's Paris Biennale.

I ran an interesting test in Hong Kong just when Ed completed his first jewellery collection for Autumn-Winter 2005, and brought with me a set of Ed's sculptured jewellery. It was a beautiful one, and I loved what he did with the earrings as they were designed unusually to twist exotically a bit gracing delicately the ear lobes. I wore the set and visited some socialite friends. After a bit of chit-chat, I asked them what they thought of the jewellery I was wearing, and actually I noticed throughout the whole evening, they were stealing discreet glances at them. They told me enthusiastically what I had on was superb. The same comment was offered by the French Managing Director in Hong Kong of Mauboussin jewellery when I attended the launch of their new shop at the IFC Tower in Hong Kong. It was wonderful for me to hear him compliment Ed's ring when I came over to congratulate him on their launch. He has a sharp eye for quality.

It's good to note Ed's work is recognized as Ed comes not only from a family of jewellers, but a district in Manila that was known pre-Hispanic times, to be the seat of the kingdom of Namayan and famed for its 500 years of silversmithing tradition. The art of jewellery-making runs naturally through Ed's vein.

"If I were a rich man ..." as the song goes, I would want to have all of Ed's sculptured jewellery. At least they're small enough for me to take along wherever I go ...