“Some of these additions are the introduction of exaggerated texture in my work, which is not found

in traditional kintsugi. To do this, I incorporated wall surface treatments into my work. These are
different finishing techniques that builders apply to walls of houses or buildings.

“Or sometimes I like to add more focal points. To do that, I take inspiration from modern architecture
and incorporate 'windows' into the restored ceramics by deliberately not putting back a broken piece
or two. If I wanted the window to be opaque I'd fabricate the missing piece. If I wanted it transparent,
I'd use colored glass from broken bottles to fill in the space.

“I also figured out a way on how to handle the paint brush. I call it the woodpecker stroke, so that a
very delicate touch can be applied to the stroke to mimic the appearance of liquid gold.”

Last January, Lauchengco mounted his fifth online exhibit titled “Unbroken.” After four months, the
tide has turned and people are now encouraging him to break and restore more things. That's why the
figure of speech, “license to break.”

“Some even ask me how and where to break theirs, while others send me the pieces of their broken
treasures in need of restoration,” he offered.

“I find the entire process very comforting because it reminds me of, well, me and you – how we
sometimes break, how our plans crumble to the ground now and then. 

“When that happens we need to pick ourselves up, brush off the dust, find a way to put the pieces
back together and let our scars make us stronger.”

To date, Lauchengco has restored 52 ceramic pieces for “Unbroken.” His friends eventually went to
him to help them restore their broken ceramics, too.

“Some for exhibit and sale, some for the participants of my online workshops and some for friends,”
he disclosed. “The ones I made for friends were already broken, they just sent me the pieces.

“The most challenging ones were two terra cotta warriors from China, a bronze horse from Europe
and a bowl made by celebrated Filipino pottery artist, Ugu Bigyan. They took a long time to restore.”

The Ugu Bigyan bowl owned by Celeste Legaspi, took weeks for Lauchengco to restore. “It had
broken many years ago and underwent restoration,” he said. “The first restoration was done well by
someone else, but for some reason, the materials used did not age well, so I was asked to restore it
again.

“In order to do that I had to undo the first restoration which was actually harder than the actual
restoration. Then start from the beginning all over again. But to be fair, the bowl was serenely
beautiful even before I touched it. It just needed some love and attention.”
 
Subsequently, Lauchengco started teaching others how to “break” things and restore via online
workshops. He purposely limited the number of participants for the first batch last March. The
second one will happen on April 24.

“First, I tried to limit the slots to 15 so I could see everyone clearly on Zoom, but I ended up having a
bit more than that,” he recalled. “For the next one on April 24, I have prepared 16 kits, so 16 is the
maximum. If I'm not mistaken there are three kits left, but there is a Zoom-in option, where you can
simply watch the process and join the discussion.”

Lauchengco’s wife, Mia, egged him on to start giving workshops. After all, she has been giving
workshops, too, since 2018. She has been making soaps and scents for Castile for 13 years now.

“Mia put up her company, SoTrue Naturals, 10 years ago and hasn't stopped since,” Lauchengco
said. “She started teaching how to make soaps, scents, candles and balms.

“While the retail side of her business remains the same, the pandemic caused her to pivot to online
teaching via SoTrue Workshops live or on demand [pre-taped]. To date, she has had more than 350
live participants [pre-pandemic] and over 400 online in the last year.”

Lauchengco needs at least two weeks to prepare all the kits needed for the three-hour workshop,
since he needs to break and mend 16 pieces. They can always extend if extra time is still needed and
he does not really mind.

“There is a lecture and slide show, lots of theory, then practicum where we physically work on two
projects,” Lauchengco said “Each participant receives a kit with all materials needed to complete
both projects.

“Because of time limitations [it takes at least two days to finish one easy project], I break and mend
one ceramic plate for the participants in advance, so that they can see and touch the parts that have
been repaired,” he explained.

“You can't touch on Zoom and touching and feeling things are very important in restoration. That
makes the plate ready for scoring and painting. So technically, one project becomes a collaboration
between me and the participant.

“The second project [usually a ceramic bowl] we break and mend together in class and the
participants finish on their own after learning what they need to learn from working on the plate with
me.

“That includes putting the pieces back together, filling in the gaps with materials provided in the kits,
filing and sanding the edges and surfaces, then scoring the cracks with a base coat and painting,
which is the final step.”

While the limited slots for his “Unbroken” workshop this April are filling up, Lauchengco can
certainly hold another online batch next month or in the months to come. He is apparently inspired to
share everything that he has been doing and that is manifested in his “Unbroken” art.