Drawn to breaking things down, cutting things in half and splitting things in two, Pastrana’s latest work extends itself beyond a mere division of objects to its material origins and its source. Indivisibilis is more a reflection on a material’s transformative phases and an investigation into what is borne out of a sudden space that was once whole.

“In each process, there is a certain loss. Some parts of the whole will no longer be there even if the source objects are rebuilt,” says Pastrana. In his latest work, the artist attempts to address this transformative loss by using material (sawdust) from “Stream” and turning it into a disc record in “Record.”

Indivisibilis examines how a material’s function and meaning are altered after each process: a boat becomes pieces of scrap wood; sawdust from the wood is made into a disc record; gold rings are melted into the shape of a sword and used as a cutting instrument – completely changing its original function – only to be returned to their original form.

“Turning the sawdust from one of the works into a disc record allows the sawdust to act as some kind of a document, a record of something that has happened.”

Indivisibilis examines relationships between meaning and material, object and image, names and words, definitions and translations, and the countless intersections in between.

Words by Cathy Paras-Lara

Gary-Ross Pastrana, artist and curator, known for sculptural installations, started his series of collages at the turn of this century. These miniature paintings are Pastrana’s nod to his contemporary art history influences – from Duchamp to Rothko, from Man Ray to Felix Gonzalez Torres. Their present installation as multi-collages allows larger appreciation of the pieces without compromising their intimacy. Pastrana was the Philippine representative to the 2008 Busan Biennale in Korea, showing Collapsible Stream, a boat airmailed from Japan to Korea in pieces, created during his artist residency in Kyoto. Pastrana is a recipient of the prestigious Cultural Center of the Philippines Thirteen Artists Award.