Eduardo Olbés is a rock star. The Tepoztlán-based Filpino artist left the Philippines for Mexico forty-five years ago, and has been carving stone at his atelier, ‘La iguana de Oriente’ (The Iguana of the East) since 1985. Informed by the aesthetic traditions of Asia, as well as those of the West and Mesoamérica, Olbés’ oeuvre nurtures a diverse dialogue between various cultures and time periods. His attachment to natural and ancient elements, from wood to mineral, dictates the direction of his works and forms the cornerstone of his sculptural practice.

One discernible and consistent characteristic in Olbés’ design is beauty. Aesthetical integrity is a primary consideration in each of his individual compositions; he notes, ‘There is a relaxation, a kind of exaltation that happens when you see something beautiful, and that’s all I’m looking for. A direct effect.’[1] Informed by beauty and the immediate serenity it evokes, Olbés manipulates rigid elements according to his vision, maximising their original shapes and altering their structural limits in order to yield emotive pieces. This laborious process is highly evident in the eleven sculptures the artist presents in i always knew that someday i would be a rock star, his first online exhibition.

Although they belong to the same series, these busts are not all cut from the same stone, nor do they rest on identical pedestals. Olbés heightens his translation of the bulul by utilising distinct raw materials sourced from Latin America, such as white marble and black and green jadeite. The sculptures in this series boast a smooth and luminous finish, contrasting the traditional bulul’s rough tactility. Here, the artist conveys his lifelong admiration for Chinese aesthetics and marries it with native design – cool stone rests on warm wood – arriving at a cross-cultural intersection. His sculptural language, composed of soft, curved lines, is subtle and sophisticated, whispering features rather than impressing them on the elements. This approach, although effortless in appearance, illustrates Olbés’ familiarity with the raw minerals, his mastery in their handling, and highlights the grace of the materials themselves.

Another set of works in this exhibition that reveal the artist’s proficiency and experience with natural elements is his Flat Standing series. With these sculptures, Olbés foregrounds the materials as the works’ principal source of beauty. Bending obsidian – as delicate and brittle as glass – according to his will, either geometrically in Flat Standing V (2015) or gently as in Flat Standing Smoke (2015), he informs the viewer of his intimate understanding with the minerals under his employ. Placing material before concept, the physical before the theoretical is characteristic of Olbés, who started as a craftsman before becoming an artist. On this subject, he says, ‘To form and join stone and wood, I have to devise new methods, since the structure-weight ratios change. This process has taken me years of work.’[3] After decades of experience, the Bulul and Flat Standing series reflect the artist’s ability to harmonise these two natural elements, and above all, demonstrate that material and technique are the key points of his work – whatever is represented simply amplifies these two properties.