Dec 14 - Face Frames Gallery Opens – Find Out The Story Behind The Wooden Face
Have you walked past that stunning wood sculpture of a face hanging above a small entrance in Town Range and wondered what it is? Read on…
We had a chance to catch up with Sebastian Rodriguez after the opening of his gallery, Face Frames - home of the mysterious wooden face.
Seb says that he first had the idea for the gallery approximately four years ago while travelling in South East Asia where he spent three months in Indonesia, two of which he lived in Ubud, Bali's cultural capital.
Sebastian attributes a lot of the inspiration for the gallery to the weekly life drawing sessions spent at the ‘Pranoto Gallery’ in Ubud. Pranoto is an artist from central Java and his gallery has a strong communitarian spirit and facilitates other people’s work as much as it produces its own.
The impressive façade, which can be seen from the bottom of King’s Yard Lane and has been attracting interest on social media, features a large face root tree carving towering over intricately carved Balinese doors.
Sebastian describes it as “a refined and polished face [which] juts out of the raw and intertwined roots of a tree creating a powerful image that curiously intimidates as much as it invites.”
The Face Root Carving contains connotations of growth and mirrors the elaboration of the project’s journey.
Seb recalls seeing the Face Root Tree Carving the day before leaving Bali:
“Driving my moped, tying up loose ends and buying last minute gifts, I saw the carving on the side of the road. Even though I had visited various carving work-shops, I had not yet seen a root tree carving. I stopped and was blown away. With the fantasy of a gallery in my head, it immediately provided a name and concept for the distant project. I promised myself that if I ever developed the idea, I would contact the workshop and bring it over. I took the coordinates down and four years later I asked my friend to help me bring it over to Gibraltar’’.
Seb says that he was later told that the face root carving is related to a ritual where a tree cannot be killed to make a root carving. Still, in a country where approximately 80% of the total logging is reported to be performed illegally, Seb concedes that he would not be surprised if the root (teak in this case), had been recycled as a consequence of illegal logging.
Seb adds that although there is a $170 additional export charge for every square metre of timber that leaves Indonesia, the irony of growth and deforestation does not escape him.
After getting past the face carving, we are drawn to the intricately carved Balinese Doors. The doors are made from Albizia trees, which are known as being one of the fastest-growing trees (within four years of germination, some albizia trees will grow to an average height of 70 feet and have an approximate circumference of 3 feet 7 inches). Due to its rapid growth rate, Albizia wood is a frequently used product which can be reforested.
The carved doors (also for sale) tell the story of the Ramayana, a Sanskrit epic poem regarded as one of the two great works of Indian literature. The poem depicts the duties of relationships, portraying ideal characters like the ideal father, the ideal servant, the ideal brother, the ideal wife and the ideal king. The name Ramayana is a compound of Rāma and ayana ("going, advancing"), translating to "Rama's Journey" and exploring human values and the concept of dharma. Although Indonesia is predominantly Muslim, Bali’s main religious contingent is Hindu.
In summary, the doors show the demon Rawana abducting Sita on the top left, whilst on the top right, Jatayu (depicted as a bird) tries to rescue her. In doing so, Jatayu fought with Rahwana but was deadly wounded. Jatayu is a symbol of loyalty and friendship and the Balinese call him Garuda, which literally means ‘bird’. In the middle is on the left is Rama, the protagonist and seventh avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu,and a king of Ayodhya (an ancient city in India). On the right side is Sita, the consort of the Hindu God Rama and paragon of spousal and feminine virtues for all women.
Sita is known for her dedication, self-sacrifice, courage and purity. Finally the two characters at the bottom are the servants, one of them is Semar and the second could be his brother. In traditional Balinese dance they are often funny and animated but play an important role as translators from the high language.
Apart from undertaking various carving lessons, Seb says that, whilst in Ubud, seeing various picture framing shops gave him the idea of making a living while pursuing creative sustainability.
“I also knew that it could be difficult to make a living painting or selling paintings, so I felt that a framing shop would tie in well together. Even though I am busy framing, the space is not as draining as previous ventures’’.
With Christmas coming up, the gallery opening has presented new and exciting challenges to the existing picture framing operation.
If you haven’t done so already, check out the Leslie Gaduzo exhibition currently on display (till mid January). Besides a fine collection to be admired, there are also limited edition prints which are going fast throughout the Christmas period.
After the New Year, Seb says he would like to continue teaching drawing and painting so get in touch if you are interested.
Check them out of Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FACEFRAMINGGIBRALTAR/?fref=ts
Below: At the opening: L: Minister for Culture Steven Linares. R: Sebastian Rodriguez.
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