Jinggoy Salcedo

Jinggoy Salcedo is a sculptor in the medium of stainless steel and glass. Trained as an interior designer at the Philippine School of Interior Design, Salcedo’s decision to instead pursue a career in visual art, using the particularly difficult medium of stainless steel, has seen his profile rise among collectors and critics with an eye for unique artworks whose execution requires a high level of technical aptitude.

Salcedo has merged his sculptural practice with an extensive knowledge of glassworks which he gained from his experience working for his family’s glass blowing business. The sculptor uses the starkly inorganic medium of polished stainless steel and blends it with glass to create, amazingly enough, sculptures that meditate on the ebb and flow of nature. Through this unique practice, Salcedo demonstrates how far he can push the medium of stainless steel and glass by confronting its most notable characteristic – its cold permanence – and transforming it into decidedly organic figurations. In this manner, Salcedo breaks through the limitations of his chosen material.

However, beneath the surface is another layer of complexity that defines the resolute artist and his practice. Salcedo has, for the most part, fought hard against the expectations of society and carved an impressive artistic practice despite a lack of formal visual arts training. And his oeuvre is all the more breathtaking when viewed from the prism of the artist’s process. Salcedo does all the forming and polishing himself, without the use of assistants. His experience working for his family glass business gave him the technical know-how necessary to form hard substances into works of art, and his conceptual acumen stems from his background in interior design.

While Salcedo favors using nature as a reference point, with trees and leaves a recurring motif, he also occasionally delves into abstract works that focuses the medium on space and form. This seamless transition between figuration and abstraction shows the depth of the sculptors skill– and sets the stage for the future of his practice.

Jinggoy Salcedo’s first solo show was hosted by Galerie Francesca.