I had the chance to see your Stone Dream series in person here in Rome, and the feeling of entering the space was immediate: it felt like stepping into something suspended, almost in transformation, as if nothing was ever truly fixed. Was that just my impression, or is it something you intentionally tried to build from the beginning?
The context I tried to recreate, that of a quarry deposit, along with the sculptural process I activated within it, is meant to convey exactly that sense of instability and suspension you described. The exhibitions I create always begin with specific sensations and observations drawn from places I’ve visited; those impressions then evolve into sculptures, installations, performances…they become a language.
Knowing that your background is in architecture, and seeing the way you work with construction materials, I couldn’t help but feel that there’s still a strong spatial awareness in your practice, almost a way of thinking that comes from building, structuring, shaping space. At the same time, your work seems to move away from control and precision, into something more unstable and organic. I’m wondering how these two dimensions coexist for you.
After many years studying architecture, I came to understand two paradoxes: the first is that architecture can exist even when function is removed; the second is that control can actually inhibit form.
I imagine that working with something so unstable also affects the way the piece is produced, transported, and installed. What does that phase look like for you? Is the installation itself part of the work?
The process is the work, and instability is its essence. Each exhibition unfolds through different modes of making; in Stone Dream, the research phase and the execution are presented together, as one and the same. They are not arranged in a precise linear order, much like in dreams.
While moving through your work, I had the impression that what we are seeing are not just forms, but traces, almost like fossils, or remnants of something that has already happened and continues to change. It made me wonder whether your focus is really on what remains… or perhaps on what is in the process of disappearing. I’m curious how you position yourself within this tension.
It’s an ambiguity that lies at the core of the process I activate; even the final form becomes a play between presence and absence, between concave and convex, between artifact and natural phenomenon. These are all coexisting ambiguities that give shape to what I consider emblematic fossils of our time.
There’s a strong presence of the body in your work, even when it seems partially erased, transformed, or absorbed by the material. It feels like the body is both central and unstable at the same time. How do you think about the role of the body in your practice?
For an architect, the body is the fundamental tool for measuring space: architecture is built around it. I think the same applies to art: even when the body is less visible, that relationship remains constant. In Stone Dream, the faces I create emerge from my imagination. They don’t refer to anything specific, but rather to a collection of memory fragments that surface through the act of sculpting.
At a certain point, I started wondering whether these figures could also reflect something beyond the individual, something more connected to the way we exist today. There’s this sense of fragility, of identities that are not fixed, almost dissolving…Do you see a connection between your work and the kind of society we live in, maybe something more ephemeral, more unstable, or even more disoriented?
The ephemeral, unlike what is meant to endure, can be seen as one of the first signals to interpret in order to better understand the current condition of human existence. Contemporary society is defined by a number of distinctive traits: permanent transience, enduring ephemerality, inadequate social roles, an uncertain future, fragile social positions, and a sense of existential insecurity. In this “liquid life,” everything is in constant flux and renewal.
Spending time with your work, I had the feeling that it never really reaches a fixed, final state, as if it continues to evolve beyond what we see. It made me wonder whether, for you, an artwork is ever truly finished, or if what really matters is the process that generates it. I’m curious how you think about this balance between the work as an object and the work as something constantly in becoming.
It is an illusion to think that things remain still or endure forever: all materials continue to change, even the most durable ones. The impermanence of the artwork should not be perceived as a limitation or a weakness, but as a strength. My works are never truly finished; they remain open, waiting to be completed, waiting for the viewer to bring them to completion through their own imagination.
Since our interview is coming to an end, I’m curious to ask you a question about the future. Do you feel the need to keep exploring these materials and processes, or are you drawn toward experimenting with new ones, maybe even different mediums?
Yes. I would like to develop a new series of works using materials different from those I have explored so far, while still remaining within my field of investigation. I’m interested in intervening directly within the production chain of certain products, in order to introduce alterations, errors, disruptions within the system, even acts of sabotage.
Surely they will be very interesting works; I can’t wait to be able to admire them, but for now, let’s go back to Stone Dream with one last question to bring our journey to a close. The title feels very evocative, almost like something suspended between dream and matter. While moving through the exhibition, I had the sense of being inside a space where reality and imagination continuously overlap. If you had to describe this “dream” in your own words, beyond technical language, what kind of space or state would it be for you?
In such a difficult historical moment, giving substance back to dreams becomes extremely important. “Stone Dream” tries to imagine new forms of coexistence and new possibilities for transformation.