Where nature, art and architecture meet
Most people start at 20, I started at 50,” says businessman, visual artist, and sculptor David Kaufman, who enters a new phase with the launch of his bilingual art book No Boundaries at Altro Mondo Creative Space in Makati last Sept. 5. “You’re never too old to start something new.”
Published by Lariot Collective Gallery Madrid, the English/Spanish language book showcases his abstract artworks and documents his journey as a Filipino Resident Artist in Madrid. In Manila, the book was presented by FEU Publications at the recent Manila International Book Fair at the SMX Convention Center, Pasay.
“I’m just creating my own method, a new method of doing things,” says Kaufman. “Because I’m fascinated with building materials and construction, this is my art and design language. It’s not a far departure from my 30 years of experience. Now my worlds are coming together.”
Born and raised in Manila, David blends a British academic foundation—having pursued post-graduate studies at the University of Oxford— with Filipino craftsmanship and Spanish artistic flair. Since 1997, he has worked for his family business, Kaufman Stone, and for almost three decades has been serving the Philippine luxury architectural market as a natural stone supplier for residential and commercial projects.
It was 2023 that marked his foray into the world of visual arts; he’s since created over 1,000 paintings and transitioned into the professional art circuit, with over 50 exhibitions across the Philippines and internationally (Spain, Germany, and Indonesia) with six solo shows and over 45 group shows from 2023 to 2026 alone.
While he is mostly based in Manila, David has had recurring exhibitions in Madrid—where his wife Mai and their daughters reside—in the last three years, namely in Kate Contemporary, Gaudi Galleria, Galeria Origen, Kiti Gallery, Lariot Collective Gallery and Writers Madrid. In Manila, his work has been acquired for the permanent collection of the Pinto Art Museum in Antipolo.
“My transition into fine arts was a natural evolution. Between 2020 and 2023, while exploring heritage architecture throughout the Philippine countryside, I became fascinated by walls transformed through weather, erosion, and history. Later, while traveling through Spain, Italy, England, and India, I discovered the same visual language repeating across cultures. Those experiences convinced me that abstraction already exists in nature,” Kaufman says. I ask about his artistic influences: “Nature remains my greatest teacher. I have also been profoundly influenced by the architects I worked alongside, particularly Leandro Locsin, Ed Calma and Jorge Yulo, and my ongoing dialogue with Ramon Orlina.
Collaborating with Orlina reinforced my belief that every material possesses its own language. It has encouraged me to focus on the dialogue between material, process and idea.”
A defining milestone for David is his recent collaboration with the Father of Philippine Glass Sculpture, Orlina. “(We) worked side by side on sculptural collaborations, including ‘Rebirth’ launched in May 2026 and the official Orlina x Kaufman sculpture at MoCAF (Modern and Contemporary Art Festival) last July 2026,” he enthuses.
David is a proud member of the Brute Collective, a group of visual artists founded by Reb Belleza, alongside Ron Lopez Davis and Alfonso Recto. The group’s recent exhibit, titled “The Assembly,” featured abstract paintings at Altro Mondo Creative Space in Makati. Their synergy amounts to paradox: they work hand-in-hand, yet their individual voices never get diluted. Despite their close collaboration, there is a freedom to be themselves, a space where their unique brute energies could exist together without compromise. According to Belleza, “What I value about Brut Collective is: exchange without sameness.”
After decades in the architectural world, what attracted David to painting? “Architecture demands precision, collaboration, and function. Painting offered a space where intuition could replace specification. I was drawn to unpredictability—where chance, accident and spontaneity become essential elements.”
David will also be part of a group exhibit at Kambal Gallery, BGC running until Sept. 29, where he unveils his unique sculptural pieces. Working with monumental stone and raw, unyielding materials, he gives new life to “unused, unloved and disregarded” factory offcuts, sculpting forgotten stone into striking new forms.
“I’m just creating my own method, a new method of doing things. Because I’m fascinated with building materials and construction, this is my art and design language. It’s not a far departure from my 30 years of experience. So now my worlds are coming together,” he muses about the book launch. “My book is also a new method for a young artist. I may not be young chronologically, but in terms of an artist, I’m very young. But I don’t want to wait. I don’t think anybody should.”
