Born in Bohol in 1930, Abueva’s parents were tortured and killed during the Second World War. This harrowing experience led him being introduced to the first Carnival Queen Pura Villanueva, art patron and wife of statesman Teodoro M. Kalaw, who funded his schooling in UP School of Fine Arts. “It was very painful. As an artist, these experiences taught me to see life in a different way. More specifically, I tried my best to look for new ways of expressing ideas as a way of dealing with the pain.” Abueva also used pain as an influence in his work when he pioneered the buoyant sculpture, an early artistic innovation where the sculpture juts out from the surface of a placid pool, in 1951. It was inspired by her sister who died at stillbirth. 

Adept in either academic representational style or modern abstract, among his notable works include the Blood Compact Monument in Bohol, the Transfiguration statue in Eternal Garden Memorial Park in Caloocan City, University of the Philippines Gateway, the Nine Muses in front of the UP Faculty Centre, Sunburst at the Peninsula Manila Hotel’s lobby, the bronze figure of Teodoro M. Kalaw in front of the National Library, and marble murals at the National Heroes Shrine in Mt. Samat, Bataan. He also designed the door handles in all the National Museum galleries.

“A more accomplished artist has inner drive and stamina. Now this is very important. The plight of the artist is somewhat similar to that of the long distance runner. You have to cross the finish line. What counts more in life is the end result. Leonardo da Vinci once said that the greatest tragedy of artists is when theory outstrips performance (laughs). Artists are judged by the end result. Theory is important but concepts must be executed very well for any theory to be realized. The artist must possess the inner drive, passion, and “loneliness” of a long distance runner to go very far.”

On Saturday, February 24, Abueva was laid to rest at the Libingan ng mga Bayani. The nation mourned the death of the beloved artist last February 16, at the age of 88.

During the interview, he was asked how does he wish to be remembered. He said, “Whatever desire is expressed in form, one conceives in realm of design. The mind in the hand can falter or surpass: if you answer which one and how much was done by love.”