Vessels of Grace: Celvic Villacorta Finds Beauty in the Movement of Women

There are works of art you admire once, and then there are pieces you keep looking back at. That was one of my biggest takeaways from Vessels of Grace, the first solo exhibition of artist Celvic Villacorta at Bamberton Center.

The collection immediately stands out because these are not paintings that simply sit flat against a wall. Villacorta works with crumpled canvas, allowing folds, creases and texture to become part of the image itself. I have always loved art with texture, so the technique immediately caught my attention. From afar, some of the pieces can almost appear abstract, but the closer you look, the more faces, bodies, hands and other forms begin to emerge from the fabric.

Among all the works on display, two pieces stood out to me the most for very different reasons. The first was a predominantly blue work featuring a face emerging from layers of turquoise, silver and deep blue. This was probably the piece I looked at the most throughout the exhibition. There was something incredibly captivating about it, from the metallic finish catching the light to the folds surrounding the face and giving the work an almost dreamlike quality. Every time I looked at it, I felt like I was noticing another detail. It was one of those pieces that quietly keeps pulling your attention back even when you have already moved on to the rest of the exhibition.

Another piece immediately caught my attention because of its form. Its elongated silhouette and layered folds unmistakably evoke the shape of a vulva, with a female figure positioned within the center of the composition. It is bold without feeling gratuitous, and within an exhibition centered on women, femininity and movement, the form feels especially fitting. It is the kind of work where the silhouette already communicates something before you even begin studying the details, and it easily became another one of the pieces I remembered most after leaving the exhibition.

During the event, Villacorta shared that much of his art comes from his love and admiration for women, particularly the way women move. Once you know that, the collection begins to make even more sense. 

The women in Vessels of Grace do not feel rigid or static. Their faces and bodies seem to emerge naturally from folds of fabric, allowing the texture of the canvas itself to mimic movement. A crease can become the contour of a face, a fold can suggest the curve of a body, and the shadows created naturally by the material add depth to each image. Rather than smoothing the canvas into perfection, Villacorta allows its wrinkles and irregularities to become part of the work.

That is perhaps one of the most compelling things about the collection. The very thing that would traditionally be treated as an imperfection becomes the source of its character. The crumpled canvas is not simply a technique or visual gimmick; it shapes how the subjects are seen. The women appear to shift depending on where you stand, how the light hits the work, or how long you spend looking at it.

There is softness and strength in the same pieces, and the movement of the material gives the collection a sense of life that would be difficult to achieve on a perfectly smooth surface. The exhibition also carries meaning beyond the works themselves. For curator Niña Arellano of Minthe Contempo, Vessels of Grace was the result of months of planning, conversations and a vision slowly brought to life.

Arellano had already seen Villacorta’s earlier experiments with crumpled canvas, making it especially meaningful to watch those beginnings develop into his first complete solo exhibition. The show was also mounted in partnership with Soroptimist International Manila Diamond, led by President Christine Codrington, and the Hope for Lupus Foundation, led by President and Founder Emmeline Aglipay Villar, with the exhibition supporting young scholars while also helping raise critical health awareness.

That gives the title Vessels of Grace another dimension. Grace here is not only something visual. It can be found in movement, femininity and beauty, but it can also mean allowing art to become a vessel for something larger than itself. The works may begin with Villacorta’s fascination with women and movement, but the exhibition ultimately extends that idea outward, using the platform to support causes and communities beyond the gallery space.

Bamberton Center also provides a fitting home for the collection. The polished marble, clean interiors and open space allow Villacorta’s heavily textured works to stand out even more, creating a contrast between the smoothness of the venue and the folds of the canvases. What stayed with me most after seeing Vessels of Grace was the way the works reward a second look. At first, you see color and texture. Then a face appears, a body emerges, or a form begins to make sense. Villacorta takes something as simple as a crumpled canvas and turns it into something layered, expressive and deeply human. In an exhibition inspired by women and the way they move, perhaps that is what makes the medium so fitting. There is no need to flatten everything into perfection. Sometimes, the folds are where the beauty begins.