In my drawing on wooden board, Christ (the original of the Sotio is guarded in the Duomo of Spoleto) is depicted in accordance with the Christus triumphans iconography, an expression of Jesus' victory over death. These are no visible signs of suffering on His body. On the upper part of the cross, called the cymatium, is the Ascension of Christ; on the lower part, known as the suppedaneum, is depicted the Golgotha with Adam's skull. Next to Jesus is Saint Mary, symbolising the Church, and Saint John the Evangelist, symbolising the Holy Scriptures. I made the panel with poplar wooden boards dating back to the 17th century. The panels are two and a half centimetres thick and were part of an ancient piece of furniture. The boards are restored and placed in the form of a cross. I then glued a cotton cloth on the wooden board and created a mould from rabbit-skin glue and white gesso following the ancient Byzantine tradition. I carved out 103 hemispheres each one with a diameter of seven millimetres, about five centimetres apart. The drawing, made of graphite and coloured pencils, is finished and protected with transparent matte finish.
I made the panels of the paintings/icons with wooden boards dating back to the 17th century. The panels are two centimetres thick and were part of ancient pieces of furniture. The panels are restored. I then glued a cotton cloth on the wooden boards and created a mould from rabbit-skin glue and white gesso. On these boards I then drew and painted the images: gold leaf background - 22 or 24 carat, hand chiselling in some kind of painting/icon - and egg tempera,
This is my first large indoor sculpture unlike my first two sculptures - Componente del 2 and Raccolta davanti a Te - which are permanently placed outdoors.
It is made by hand, helped by a lathe. I modelled rough special white refractory clay, mixed with water.
The sculpture consists of four circular hollow columns.
The walls are approximately one and a half centimetres thick.
Each clay refractory column consists of four cylinders, a capital shaped like an upside down truncated cone and a square wooden base.
The external surface of the cylinders, that make up the columns, is divided into squares containing inscribed texts from the Vulgata, alternating with red acrylic paint and graphite drawings.
The composition of the four columns lay on a single large rectangular foundation also made of wood.
I created the sculpture to give life to a Studiolo which can be admired and enjoyed. I envisioned it as a place where one can draw, paint, sculpt, perform, create videos, take pictures, act, place installations, compose music, dance, write, play any instrument, sleep, relax, meditate, eat, exercise and talk. It can also be used as a canopy, a cot for a child, or any way you can imagine.
The sculpture has an export permit.
I recently created this chamber sculpture after my trip to Japan. While there I visited the temples in Kyoto and the architecture of Kengo Kuma. This work is a result of this journey, is an homage to the Japanese Architect and is an attempt at connecting my personal spiritualism, tied to Catholicism, with the main religions of the Land of the Rising Sun: Buddhism and Shintoism.
The sculpture consists of a temple raised from the ground on four feet hidden to the observer, in which the three aforementioned religions communicate. The temple's pavement and ramp are made of gilded wood (22 carat gold leaf). Its ceiling is made of bamboo which has a nice green colour with hints of brown. The bamboo is held together by means of thin strips of brown leather. The bamboo layer is approximately one centimetre thick and lays on a gilded wood support.
Three of the temple walls are made with sliding wooden panels that are matt white lacquered and with bamboo in a traditional yellow ochre colour, two and a half centimetres thick. One of the four walls is made only of ochre coloured bamboo, also two and a half centimetres thick. Inside each panel is a cloth with an image that represents each religion: for Shintoism I chose an image of the Torii, the sacred portal for Japan's state religion; for Buddhism I selected the Bodhi Tree, under which it is said that Siddharta Gautama was enlightened and became the Buddha; for Catholicism I placed Our Lady of Tenderness, an image of the Mother of God that I wrote.
I placed three more cloths on the back side of the walls. These contain three short texts which describe the three religions, each in the language of the country in which the religion is practiced: Japanese for Shintoism and Buddhism, Italian for Catholicism. The three sliding wood panels are interchangeable, both in terms of their placement and in terms of which images and texts are on the inside or outside of the temple.
The sculpture has an export permit.
To Kengo Kuma 1 (here the critical essay)
To Kengo Kuma 2 (here the critical essay)
The artist studiolo: meeting place (here the critical essay)