“I choose to use wire because it is able to break down the solid mass of a sculpture without losing the significance of forms and yet, it brings out the strength, solidness and at the same time, fluidity of the sculpture. The sculpture doesn’t require the use of any equipment nor adhesive, but simply using the medium itself, employing a basic but yet very powerful method of weaving, connecting, and strengthening the sculpture to form a piece, strong enough to stand on its own feet, even at a height of more than 4 metres.”

Although a ceramics major, Victor began experimenting with wire in his first year of studies back in 1995. In Searching for an alternative to pencil and paper for his life-drawing class, he found wire. With wire, he could draw a line, feel it, then draw the next line, in relation to the last. This way, he gets feedback which he can’t get through paper and pencil. The wire sketches were an in-between of 2D drawings and 3D forms. To him, space is the paper and wire is the pencil strokes.

The wires are coiled and weaved into the desired form, beginning first with a loose contouring of the main body, followed by additional filling in and densification which gives volume and strength to the skeletal form. When working on the bigger sculpture, Victor first makes maquettes which are sometimes as small as the size of an adult’s finger. Victor’s fingers have become so nimble that even the smallest piece of work transcends life and spirit.

Victor has explored with galvanized steel, copper, brass, and now uses mainly stainless steel, of quality L304 or 316. There is no fear of tarnish nor losing of its qualities over time. Although a cold material, the finishing of stainless steel gives an attractively pleasing touch and look. To Victor, perhaps more than anybody else, sculptures should be touched and felt.

Victor’s sculptures are weaved from just wire, and hence seem colourless. On a ironic note, the colour on the stainless steel is never the same, instead they absorb and reflect the environment, hence the colour and mood changes accordingly. Seeing a same work at different times of the day and at different locations creates different dimensions to his between-2and-3D work. The shadow casts from the sculpture onto a wall creates yet another dimension to the interesting dynamics of the works. It begs the viewers now to ask, do we look at the 3D work or the 2D drawings on the wall?