Emerging from limestone with milky alabaster-hued faces and portions of their bare torsos in passionate poses, Maria Magdamit’s sculptures are hot!

The smoothly curving breasts and defined abdominal musculature of her favored nature deities are, in fact, results of extreme heat—1,260 degrees Centigrade, to be exact.

The meticulous process of their creation involves being baked in a high-fire kiln twice, first for 10 hours and again for another 12 after the special glazing has been applied, always with the possibility of pieces breaking from the heat.

Showing her painstaking care at ensuring that they successfully form and highlight her love for texture, she mounts “Crackled,” her latest collection currently on view at Gallery Nine in Megamall.

Maria’s works weave an otherworldly spell with their embellishment of sea glass, botanical accents, and colors both of the forest and the sea.

The “Diwata” series, a consistent favorite of her collectors, seems to beguile and entrance them like  naiads and dryads.

Fauna, too, is drawn into her nature guardians, as seen in her hollow busts that house birds like tree trunks. These pieces feature how the artist glazes even the interior of her sculptures.

Debuting in this third solo show is her magical circus series.

Also included are the diwata necklaces and cuffs—wearable art that have the loyalty of clients of this UST Fine Arts alumna, who left the advertising world in Manila to  indulge in her passion.

In 2010, her specialized kiln was transported by a lumbering C-van to her place in  Bicol, where she teaches art and finds fulfillment in playing with fire.

Call tel. 9108016 for details. For comments, e-mail the author at [email protected].