What does it mean to you to join the North Lands Creative network and be part of building a community for glass?
My first experience with North Lands Creative goes back to 2010 when I was supposed to go there to participate in a group residency and unfortunately because of visa problems (I still didn’t hold Italian citizenship at that time) I had to cancel it few days before traveling to Scotland.
From that moment I have been following news from North Lands and has always been on my top list and I dreamed to be there either for teaching or residency but never happened so far.
Tell us about your work. What influences translate into your art practice?
My work is directly connected to my emotions. It comes from very deep inside and I am a very attentive observer of my surroundings.
Has this changed the way you approach your work?
A very important aspect of my artistic research focuses on what different materials such as, paper, glass, plastic, etc. have in common or in contrast and how they react when they are back to their origin. I intend to create a dialogue between traditional crafts fine arts, handmade and found objects and then recompose them in some form of contemporary installation in which similarities, differences, and diversities stay together and coexist well as a metaphor for the society.
What initially captured your imagination about glass?
My country of origin has a very rich tradition of glass. Glassworks from ancient Persia 700-500 BC up to the Islamic period are part of every important museum collection around the world. As a child, I used to visit a small town near my city with my parents in which there were working many local glass blowers. Many years later in Italy, I started studying glass in 2005 just by accident after visiting accidentally a glass exhibition in Bolzano which became a turning point for me.
What’s the significance of the handmade to you?
I have a background as a ceramic artist. Working with clay one has very direct contact with the material. You touch it and you insert your fingers in it. Our evolution as human species started when millions of years ago our ancestors started to use their hands and to make tools and things. If you look at an ancient piece of pottery you still see the fingerprint of the maker on it. There are many contemporary artists that for creating their ideas need the skilful hands of other artists or craftspersons.Personally, I try to create a balance between the use of the handmade, ready-made and found objects in my works.
What was your route to becoming an artist?
If I’m not wrong Picasso believed that every child is an artist and what is difficult is to remain an artist as we grow up. Let’s say my route started a long time ago. I always knew that my preferable style of life was artist life. The only thing that keeps changing in my route is my definition of what being an artist means to me.