Mixed media sculpure

Confinement and connectivity are said to be obsessive concerns of the artist Conrado Mercado. Although he has worked in a broad array of media, Mercado is most well known for his sculpture. This work was created two years after Ferdinand Marcos’s declaration of martial law in the Philippines. During this period Mercado completed a number of works featuring aluminum doors and barred, arched windows enclosing human figures. These were shown in an exhibition entitled Doors and Windows. While the title of the exhibition was not explicitly political, many scholars interpreted sculptures like this one, of a Jesus-like figure peering out from behind bars, as a criticism of the Marcos regime.

During this period, critics of the state were imprisoned, tortured, and executed. Many artists produced works of protest; two other examples, by Ben Cabrera and Pablo Baen Santos, are in the museum's collection.