Of all the magnificent sculptures he made, the ones he remembered the most were a small wood piece depicting a pair of salakot-wearing women planting rice, an image of a pregnant woman done in marble, and a colossal figure of Jesus Christ made out of steel and bronze.

Napoleon Abueva, who died Friday at age 88, was famous for his incredibly diverse portfolio and his passion for experimentation.

His reputation as a master capable of crafting classic pieces from different materials began when he burst into the country's art scene in the '50s with "The Kiss of Judas," which he fashioned out of a single adobe block to symbolize betrayal.

When it won a prize in 1951, it showed a new direction, very different from the mathematically perfect depictions of the human body inspired by the Ancient Greeks that dominated the local landscape then.

He went on to earn the description as a "pioneering modernist in sculpture" and in 1976 he became the youngest to be conferred the National Artist award.

His belief in striving for greatness owed much to Leonardo da Vinci, who once said, "The supreme misfortune is when theory outstrips performance."

To be worthy of awe, Abueva explained in an interview with award-winning writer José Wendell Capili in 2003, one must find the "inner drive" and "stamina" of a long-distance runner to come up with an "end result."

"What counts more in life is the end result . . . Artists are judged by the end result. Theory is important but concepts must be executed very well for any theory to be realized," he said.

"The artist must possess the inner drive, passion and 'loneliness' of a long-distance runner to go very far."

Abueva was born in Bohol in 1930. When he was in his teens, his parents, Teodoro Abueva and Purificacion Veloso, were tortured and killed by Japanese invaders for supporting guerrilla forces.

The harrowing experience of having to "listen to their agony" taught him to look for new avenues of expressing ideas "as a way of dealing with the pain."

With a passion for art, he moved to Manila and studied at University of the Philippines in Diliman after graduating high school in 1949. While there, he was taken under the tutelage of National Artist Guillermo Tolentino.

Some of his other notable works included the crucifix of the UP Chapel of the Holy Sacrifice, "Sunburst" at the Peninsula Manila hotel, and "Siyam na Diwata ng Sining" in front of the UP Faculty Center.

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A wake for Abueva is being held at Delaney Hall, adjacent to the Parish of the Holy Sacrifice in Diliman, Quezon City, starting Friday night until next week.

State necrological honors at the Cultural Center of the Philippines will also be held.

Details of Abueva's interment will be announced by his family at a later date.