Ferdinand Cacnio, a visual artist and scupltor, created quite a stir recently after he posted a photo of UPLift, his recent sculpture of a female nude that seems to be rising up, hands outstretched and held up in mid-air by a column of long hair. After netizens and some members of the academe criticized that his work was copied from the work of Elisabet Stienstra, “Virgins of Apeldoorn,” the artist denies that he plagiarized such artwork.
In a Facebook post, Cacnio also notes that it is his first time to be made aware of Stienstra’s work. He says that he has never been to the Netherlands nor is he familiar with Stienstra and her work.
UPLift Sparks Debate About Originality In Art
Cacnio’s original Facebook post shows off his sculpture which is currently installed in front of the UP Theater in UP Diliman. While it has gotten over 13,000 likes and over 2,400 shares, some netizens and members of the academe noted its similarity to one sculpture in the Virgins of Apeldoorn. Some comments go as far as accusing Cacnio of copying the said artwork.
According to an Inquirer report, Cacnio maintains that UPLift is his own work and is not plagiarized. He also says, “I was not inspired by her (Stienstra), I did not model my work after hers.”
His wife and daughter also took to Facebook to defend the artist. His wife, Bing states that female nudes in motion have always been a favorite subject of his husband. Being a civil engineer by profession, his interest in art was more in capturing subjects in motion. According to her, his body of work “showed movement and lightness, capturing the female form in mid-dance motion. A lot of them were suspended on air, where suspension was achieved using various clever methods.”
Plagiarism Or Similarities
The Inquirer report also cites UP Art Studies professor Jeff Giron, who says that the work should be considered a plagiarism for the simple reason that they both “resemble the female body form in a reclining form.” He then cites that there are other works of art that show the female form in the same pose or position. He adds, “Cacnio’s and Stienstra’s works are not copies of each other. They just happen to share uncanny similarities.”