EDUARDO “Peppon” Rondain and his son Eduardo Paolo live in very different worlds.
Peppon, 58, is a nuclear medicine physicist and head of the Nuclear Medicine Department of Makati Medical Center. Twenty-three-year-old Paolo is a student of business economics at Far Eastern University (FEU) in Makati, who shoots videos on the side, and also happens to be a national wakeboarding champion.
Above and beyond all that, however, the two share an artistic eye that has come into clear focus in an ongoing joint exhibit at the Globe Gallery at The Globe Tower in Bonifacio Global City.
Peppon joins several others in an exhibition of students and friends of pottery masters Jon and Tessy Pettyjohn entitled “Comrades in Clay,” featuring Peppon’s works alongside those of Rita Gudiño, Joey de Castro, Tensie Bello, Ging Pajaro, Sonny Cruz, Dedette Bautista, EJ Espiritu, Ritsuko Kikuchi, Kiko Demetillo, Johann Gohoc and Rescy Bhagwani.
The range of styles is delightful, from Peppon’s own classic, clean pieces to Espiritu’s free-form sculptural bowls, Cruz’s highly decorative, intricate teapots, and many more
Alongside the pieces, framed on the wall, is Paolo’s visual travelogue of sorts, “As I See It,” color and black-and-white photographs from countless journeys on his own and with his father and sisters. They’re familiar places seen from interesting angles: a close-up of sculpture in Genoa, Italy; a graphic skyline view of New York City, a woman lost amidst the colors of Morocco.
By accident
It’s Paolo’s first exhibit ever, and they’re both very excited.
“The new perspectives come to me by accident,” says Paolo, who shoots in film with an SLR camera. “Unlike moving pictures, where you’re looking for a moment, I like shooting landscapes because I can take my time. It’s very relaxing.”
Once a week, Paolo is still off to Nuvali in Sta. Rosa to practice his competitive wakeboarding, and is also into surfing, which explains the many permutations of ocean shots in the exhibit.
He also credits his father for exposing him early to art; paintings hang all over the Rondain household because Peppon’s mother, Celine, used to run her own gallery. In fact, H.R. Ocampos and BenCabs abound in the collection Peppon inherited from his mother; the first piece he bought with his own money as a college student was by an up-and-coming young artist named Mark Justiniani. Now, Peppon’s favorites include works by Rodel Tapaya.
Peppon is a scientist, but believes everyone has a bit of the left brain-right brain combination.
“I think we all have different shades, some more than the other; it’s just a matter of finding what you want to do. I need this to de-stress after work.” He also plays classical piano and has tried his hand at painting—“I can copy well, but it’s not that stimulating for me”—but it wasn’t until 1999 that he discovered his medium of choice, clay.
“I was driving to work when I heard on the radio that the Pettyjohns were offering lessons, and you just had to go to Ayala Museum, so I went—and I got hooked.”
Starting with dirt
Why pottery? “It’s very creative—you start with a lump of dirt, and come up with something significant. You just have to obey the clay.”
It’s also an exercise in patience, Peppon says, since after shaping the clay on the wheel, you have to give it time to dry before firing it, trimming it, glazing it—a process that could take between one and three weeks.
Also, you never quite know what you’re going to come up with. “If it doesn’t want to, it doesn’t want to. Marami na akong nabasag—at binasag, dahil pangit!”
The comrades also use birthdays or special occasions to run off to Pansol and get busy at the potter’s wheel. “It’s a social thing; I like to have a beer in my hand and talk with friends while we’re at it,” Peppon says.
Not surprisingly, Peppon, who claims he is a more visual person as required by his line of work—he has been with Makati Med’s Nuclear Medicine Department since 1988—also takes excellent photographs, says his son. “He takes very good portraits.”
Paolo has also tried his hand at pottery, but feels most at home behind a camera, whether for video or stills.
For now, Paolo is toying with the idea of doing longer films, aside from event videos. Peppon, meanwhile, wants to come up with “something sculptural” for a next pottery project.
So what if Rondain fils decides to chuck the business background to become a full-time artist? “I’ll probably discourage him, because he has to think of his future,” Rondain père says with a laugh. “But having said that, I’ll still support whatever he wants. I’m his dad. I’m biased.”
“Comrades in Clay” and “As I See It” run until Feb. 29.