NELLA TERRA CON LA TERRA

A roundabout is not a standalone area to be “solved”; it is not simply a place to “fill,” nor is it a space meant to host a sculpture or artwork created in the seclusion of an artist’s studio. A roundabout is a small piece of city or inhabited territory, and anyone involved in its design, including road planners, must engage with the context. Everything around it holds significance: the traffic islands, crosswalks, sidewalks—all contribute to the vision of creating a unified and harmonious image within the surrounding landscape. Nature and recurring sculptural elements combine to lend specificity to the site: the brick wall, the bas-relief, terracotta and stone, the green lawn, lavender, roses, and pomegranate trees.

THE BRICK, THE WALL, THE BAS-RELIEF

The brick is an ancient building material, shaped from fired clay. It is an artistic element: its dimensions (about 6x12x24 cm) correspond to the size of the human hand and, consequently, its weight of around 3 kilograms allows for easy placement and movement, enabling the installation of 800 to 1,000 bricks per day. It is a material with artistic potential, compelling one to consider form based on function. Visually and texturally appealing, bricks come in various colors and textures, and they are adaptable to diverse forms. Natural and reliable, bricks escape perfect geometry and industrial standardization. Their dimensions vary depending on location and kiln. Using brick signifies a rejection of uniformity and an affirmation of diverse reality against the flattening effect of industrialization. Like nature, it is a living material. Transforming a wall into a sculptural element through specific laying techniques and the shaping of its modular components is an ancient concept that I enjoy bringing into the present.

Nella terra con la terra is my challenge. The paramano walls vary in height and have a sinuous layout; in certain sections, a series of hand-molded bricks create a bas-relief effect. They contain the earth, forming gently inclined planes in both the roundabout and the surrounding traffic islands, where they can also serve as seating. The staggered laying of the courses, tapering downward, enhances the sense of plasticity that characterizes this place.

THE SHELL AND THE STONE

The need for form is a fundamental human requirement. Through form, we give shape to what we wish to express. But there is also always a purpose to fulfill. Often, the material needs of things are at odds with spiritual aspirations: matter provides the means in this struggle.

My preferred material is clay: a soft, malleable material that mimics the gesture of the hand, capturing and perpetuating it. The human hand is tender; it does not know the square shape. The sculpture that expresses my vision evokes the cavity, the shape of a vessel, a shell, a form that encloses and contains, separating an inside from an outside, providing protection. The vessel is linked to the concept of home, as a seed is to a plant, for it symbolizes the beginning, containing the genetic blueprint for growth and development. The vessel, like the home, highlights the qualities of interior space over volume, of dwelling over building. The stone within it is an element of nature belonging to the mineral realm—a testament to the timeless continuity of nature within the landscape.