CEBU CITY – “It’s in my core to see the potential in what other people might see as waste or discarded material,” says James Doran-Webb from his studio in the Queen City of the South. The son of antique collectors, Doran-Webb’s childhood saw his parents uprooting the family and moving cities and countries to where the next deal was about to happen.
After traveling to the Philippines in 1989, he was instantly smitten with the countryside, the beaches, and the people. The following year, Doran-Webb set up a company that designs and makes a range of wooden objects to sell for the European and American markets. These include large papier mache animals as well as pieces of furniture made from wood salvaged from old demolished hardwood houses.
This January 12-14, some of James Doran-Webb’s works will be on display and will be sold at Crisscrossings: Creative Convergence 2018 at Crossroads Cebu. A three-day event to celebrate creative entrepreneurship, art, design, and maker culture in Cebu, Crisscrossings is presented by Create Cebu, Crossroads Cebu, A Space Cebu, the European Chamber of Commerce Cebu, and the Materials Innovation Centre.
James has amassed an extensive collection of driftwood, varying in size and form from small pieces to large natural sculptures, each piece hewn by natural forces into a myriad of individual shapes. The wood is found along the shorelines, riverbeds and valleys of the archipelago and is predominantly one specie of wood which is incredibly oily and dense enough to withstand decades of exposure both extreme tropical climate and intense frosts.
In 2015, he was commissioned to make a sculpture of a family of Philippine Eagles that has since been on display at Enchanted Kingdom in Laguna. To see other samples of James Doran-Webb’s stunning sculptures, visit Crisscrossings: Creative Convergence 2018 this January 12-14 in Cebu.
