Does each of your sculptures tell a story?
Each of my sculptures tell a story. Sometimes it’s my story, and sometimes it’s a story I need to tell. While my sculptures are inspired by swimmers, over the years I have developed parallel thematic strands portraying athletes, dancers and even tributes to the great classics of art history; iconic works using bronze and 24k gold leaf, already exhibited with great success in Rome in 2021 at the Galleria d’Arte Moderna and the Terrazza del Pincio, and at Palazzo Reale in Milan. My upcoming museum show featuring my swimmer stories will start on May 13th and continue until September 16th at Fondazione Made in Cloister in Naples.
In 2022, during the Venice Art Biennale, I named my solo show My Stories. They were a summation of my narrative, ranging from childhood to more recent encounters in which I capture the essence of a person’s feelings in a single pose. The exhibition’s journey was revealed through the space of the Chapel of the Church of the Pietà, also known as “Vivaldi’s Church,” because this is where the great Maestro worked and composed.
Through a journey back in time, it will be possible to learn the story behind each work that has marked an encounter for me, from Christina, the Queen of Sweden, depicted in a moment of introspection that implies her great vitality, to Yaima and the Ball, an Olympic volleyball player from Cuba who suffered an injury and is portrayed in all her vigor and physical power, leaning on a pedestal to regain her balance. In Serenity and Perseverance, the inspiration is linked to a specific feeling that is reflected in the movement of the sculptures as well as in Eyes Open, which was created during the pandemic, and it is precisely in the divergence between the title and the work (depicting a woman with her eyes closed) that invites the viewer to reflect on the tumultuous times of Covid 19.
Where are you from and how does this affect your work?
I am from New York City. I am influenced by my experiences, the people that I meet and ideas that I have.
Who are your biggest sculpture influencers?
Michelangelo
Rembrandt
Rene Magritte
Vermeer
James Turell
Ai Weiwei
Jaume Plensa
Bernini
Aside from his astonishing talent with a paint brush, exemplified by the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper, da Vinci was simply centuries ahead of his time. You could go as far as saying that he’s the greatest genius ever.
Describe how art is important to society?
Art matters in terms of visual effects. For example, let us study Picasso’s Guernica painting, which was completed in 1937. At the first glance any viewer will know how incredible, challenging, and complex a work it appears to be. It conveys a composition and understanding of art itself. If anyone needs to make an interpretation of art, they need to understand that art in a way can easily inspire or motivate the viewer, for example:
It can identify and describe the difference between the form and content used in the art
It can identify the five elements of design
It can identify and distinguish how design principles can connect visually
It can differentiate between different representations of art such as realistic, abstract, or non-representative art forms
Art is the best way to visualise or analyse any content. It can define different elements and principles of a subject. When we look at any piece of art in an exhibition, museum or forum; we can certainly decipher its expression, idea, or even learn through a lifetime or culture of the era that the piece was created. Therefore, art is formed through a lifetime of knowing about a culture or the times in which people have lived. You can easily select the piece of art which inspires you most and even take mental notes while analysing its conceptualization.
What’s your favourite commission and why?
The Double Diver was my favourite commission. Soaring 25 feet into the Sunnyvale California sky, the Double Diver is a sight to behold! The gravity-defying bronze sculpture is both a remarkable artwork and an incredible feat of engineering. Composed of two monumental divers connected at a tenuous junction (the top figure rests its hands around the ankles of the lower diver) the sculpture’s dynamic “S” curve is revealed from its dramatic side views. The form is a perfect example of what eighteenth-century art theorist William Hogarth called ‘the line of beauty’: that curving serpentine silhouette found in all things naturally beautiful. Within the bronze is a substantial stainless-steel matrix that anchors the 2 1/2 tons of bronze. But for the viewer, the mystery remains of how the huge, graceful piece stands on the two six-inch wrists and hands of the lower figure.
One stand out country where you feel immersed with their sculptures?
Italy has been a great country for me. I became recognized there when my Monumental Catalina won the Medici Award from the city of Florence. In 2007, I showed Monumental Catalina and Monumental Survival of Serena in the Venice Biennale. My pieces were brilliantly received, and people lined up to see them up close.
