EDUARDO MUTUC
Gamaba Artist
Eduardo Tubig Mutuc is a Filipino metalsmith and sculptor. He is a known practitioner of the craft of pinukpuk which involved the stamping of embellishments on metal sheets. Mutuc create works of both secular and religious nature using silver, wood and bronze mediums. This includes retablos, mirrors, altars and carosas
Eduardo Mutuc is an artist who has dedicated his life to creating religious and secular art in silver, bronze, and wood. His intricately detailed retablos, mirrors, altars, and carosas are in churches and private collections. A number of these works are quite large, some exceeding forty feet, while some are very small and feature very fine and delicate craftsmanship. Mutuc is a Kapampangan from Apalit, Pampanga. He was born on October 12, 1949 to farmers and grew up with nine siblings. He only finished his elementary education helping his parents in farming thereafter. He continued to work as a farmer in adulthood.
From a young age, Mutuc learned and became skilled in the traditional art of pinukpuk metalwork. Eduardo Mutuc is an artist who has dedicated his life to creating religious and secular art in silver, bronze, and wood. His intricately detailed retablos, mirrors, altars, and carosas are in churches and private collections. A number of these works are quite large, some exceeding forty feet, while some are very small and feature very fine and delicate craftsmanship. For an artist whose work graces cathedrals and churches, Mutuc works in humble surroundings. His studio occupies a corner of his yard and shares space with a tailoring shop. During the recent rains, the river beside his lot overflowed and water flooded his studio in Apalit, Pampanga, drenching his woodblocks. Mutuc takes it all in stride.
One of his first clients as an independent craftsman was Monsignor Fidelis Limcauco who commissioned him to create a tabernacle for a parish church in Fairview, Quezon City. He went on to create other religious works many of which are based on Spanish colonial designs although Mutuc also incorporates his own ideas. He also did works of secular nature, although even in this case rely on religious influence to create such works.
SILVER PLATING
The technique used by Eduardo Mutuc is to emulate gold and silver leaf in the decoration of saints and religious screens found in colonial churches. The way Eduardo mutuc does his artwork is by beginning with a detailed drawing then transferring the design onto a block of wood and chiseling out the details. Then covers the wood with a metal sheet and then coaxes out the design through hammering using a mallet and an old rubber slipper. Then dips the solid metal sheet in molten silver. For the final touches, he then hammers the metal sheet in order for the design to come out perfectly.
EDUARDO "JUN" MUTUC
Eduardo “Jun” Mutuc, Jr. is the son of the Gawad sa Manlilikha ng Bayan or the National Living Treasure awardee Eduardo Mutuc. At a very young age, Jun, among all his brothers and sistersm showed interest in the metal craftsmanship of his father, Over the years, he has worked side by side with his father and gradually mastered the techniques. The first thing he learned was how to hold the chisel and the hammer properly to promote ease of use and prevent fatigue and mistakes because of improper handling. With his father’s guidance, Jun represents the promising future of religious and secular metalwork in the province.