PONDER PEACE
The Ponder Peace Sculpture Garden was commissioned by a private client on an estate in Umbria, Italy. This outdoor installation features ten large-scale sculptures meticulously crafted from recycled styrofoam originally used in the construction of a nearby wine tasting complex. Nestled in a young oak forest, the sculpture garden is visible from the villa and is bordered by a vineyard and an eco farm. The Ponder Peace installation embodied a visual and thematic language intended to evoke the ambiance of an undiscovered archaeological site or a sacred gathering place. Visitors could discover sculptural forms scattered throughout the landscape, inspired by culturally symbolic objects and architectural motifs. These sculptures seamlessly blended classical, industrial, and ethereal elements, playing with optical illusions and some appearing to float amidst the trees. Central to this installation is the concept of social sculpture, where the artwork, viewer, and environment form a cohesive whole. Ponder Peace aimed to draw viewers outdoors to appreciate nature's sculptural beauty and immerse themselves in the breathtaking Umbrian landscape.
Acroterion, 2022, 295 x 200 x 60 cm, Fiberglass, recycled styrofoam, polyurethane resin, copper, iron & coldpatine
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Anfora, 2022, 122 x 292 x 60 cm, Fiberglass, recycled styrofoam, polyurethane resin, natural pigments & Carrara marble dust
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Ponder Peace at Isola di Pace embodies a visual and thematic language I have been constructing in my art practice over the past five years. My hope for the installation was for it to appear as an undiscovered archaeological site or sacred gathering place. Visitors stumble on sculptural forms scattered across a young forest framing the surrounding landscape. Stemming from culturally symbolic objects and architectural motifs, the disparate aesthetics of the sculptures is timeless and playful, linking the classical, industrial and ethereal.
My interest in contrasting industrial and classical aesthetics is rooted in early experiences growing up in Rome and visiting the Centrale Montemartini Museum. The Museum, once a thermoelectric power plant, is famous for its unusual curatorial pairing of classical Roman statuary and decommissioned industrial machinery. Centrale Montemartini’s permanent exhibition titled The Machines and the Gods has been a major reference point in my work, and the aesthetic intersection of classical and industrial has been a constant feature in my practice. Ponder Peace at Isola di Pace commingles the industrial and classical with the ethereal, creating an other-worldly archeology.
Anvil 2022, 95 x 130 x 30 cm, Fiberglass, recycled styrofoam, polyurethane resin, bronze & coldpatine
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Baroque Pearl, 2022, 68 x 70 x 65 cm, Fiberglass, recycled styrofoam, polyurethane resin & mother of pearl dust
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Central to my practice is the idea of social sculpture - the work, the viewer and the environment all form a constructed cohesive whole. As a native digital, I see social sculpture as a necessary offset to the ongoing dematerialization of art and culture. Although I am an avid and active participant of online life, my primary focus as an artist is to create immersive art experiences that momentarily take people away from their screens. For that reason, the true scope of Ponder Peace was to set a stage with which to bring viewers outside to appreciate and explore the sculptural quality of nature and immerse themselves in the astonishing Umbrian landscape.
I am very concerned with the quantity of waste, obsolete objects and pollution we as a planet produce. Therefore, I choose to primarily work with reclaimed and recycled materials, taking on the challenge of transforming and masking them. The Ponder Peace project was a very exciting opportunity to play with material illusion - industrial styrofoam is transformed into oxidized bronze, iridescent pearl, weathered copper and petrified stone. The styrofoam used to fabricate Ponder Peace was a waste material from the construction of Podere Calzone’s bespoke wine tasting room La Tana. The arches in La Tana are made from reinforced concrete and the giant styrofoam forms acted as a “negative” mold in the concrete casting process.
La Tana’s fabrication was an additive process, materials were poured and stacked to create a modern architectural marvel. The sculptural intervention was a subtractive one, the styrofoam was carved, cut and molded into 10 sculptures, each with a dramatic silhouette and unique patina or surface finish.
Medusa, 2022, 40 x 40 x 12 cm, Fiberglass, recycled styrofoam, polyurethane resin, brass, bronze & coldpatine
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Gemelli, 2022, 30 x 37 x 16 cm, Fiberglass, recycled styrofoam, polyurethane resin, bronze & coldpatine
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Artemisia 2022, 295 x 75 x 30 cm, Fiberglass, recycled styrofoam, polyurethane resin, natural pigments bronze, mica & coldpatine
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I often reflect on the contradictory ways we value certain historical objects over others, classical statuary and architecture are considered to be precious artifacts of immense value. Meanwhile decommissioned industrial machines are obsolete ruins. All are parts of the physical history of humankind and all were once utilitarian objects. Everything had a use and a purpose, whether as a projection of status or as a tool in manufacturing. We simply like to order some as still useful and others as waste but in fact all are obsolete, valuable only as symbolic conceptual triggers.
Considering the Isola di Pace itself as a work of art, I sought to bring attention to the surrounding landscape as much as to the sculptures. This impetus is a reaction to the current ecological crisis we find ourselves in and invites reflection on the imminent obsolescence of the physical world in light of the burgeoning digital world. This new digital reality is the ultimate consumer haven, objects can be endlessly reproduced and discarded without regard to the environmental impact, but I wonder, will we ever reach a point where the beauty of the natural world can be replaced with a digital version?